Published November 1, 2011 | Version v1
Journal article

MAGNETIC FIELD LINE RANDOM WALK FOR DISTURBED FLUX SURFACES: TRAPPING EFFECTS AND MULTIPLE ROUTES TO BOHM DIFFUSION

  • 1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400 (Thailand)
  • 2. Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics, CHE, Ministry of Education, Bangkok 10400 (Thailand)
  • 3. Bartol Research Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)

Description

The magnetic field line random walk (FLRW) is important for the transport of energetic particles in many astrophysical situations. While all authors agree on the quasilinear diffusion of field lines for fluctuations that mainly vary parallel to a large-scale field, for the opposite case of fluctuations that mainly vary in the perpendicular directions, there has been an apparent conflict between concepts of Bohm diffusion and percolation/trapping effects. Here computer simulation and non-perturbative analytic techniques are used to re-examine the FLRW in magnetic turbulence with slab and two-dimensional (2D) components, in which 2D flux surfaces are disturbed by the slab fluctuations. Previous non-perturbative theories for Dperpendicular, based on Corrsin's hypothesis, have identified a slab contribution with quasilinear behavior and a 2D contribution due to Bohm diffusion with diffusive decorrelation (DD), combined in a quadratic formula. Here we present analytic theories for other routes to Bohm diffusion, with random ballistic decorrelation (RBD) either due to the 2D component itself (for a weak slab contribution) or the total fluctuation field (for a strong slab contribution), combined in a direct sum with the slab contribution. Computer simulations confirm the applicability of RBD routes for weak or strong slab contributions, while the DD route applies for a moderate slab contribution. For a very low slab contribution, interesting trapping effects are found, including a depressed diffusion coefficient and subdiffusive behavior. Thus quasilinear, Bohm, and trapping behaviors are all found in the same system, together with an overall viewpoint to explain these behaviors.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/741/1/16

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
741
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
[13 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
43065695
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; DIFFUSION; FLUCTUATIONS; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MAGNETIC SURFACES; RANDOMNESS; TRAPPING; TURBULENCE; TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
Descriptors DEC
MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS; SIMULATION; VARIATIONS