Nonhelical turbulence and the inverse transfer of energy: A parameter study

Electron-Only Magnetic Reconnection and Inverse Magnetic-Energy Transfer at Subion Scales

We derive, and validate numerically, an analytical model for electron-only magnetic reconnection applicable to strongly magnetized plasmas. Our model predicts subion-scale reconnection rates significantly higher than those pertaining to large-scale reconnection, aligning with recent observations and simulations. We apply this reconnection model to the problem of inverse magnetic energy transfer at subion scales. We derive time-dependent scaling laws for the magnetic energy decay and the typical magnetic structure dimensions that differ from those previously found in the magnetohydrodynamics regime. These scaling laws are validated via two- and three-dimensional simulations, demonstrating that subion-scale magnetic fields can reach large, system-size scales via successive coalescence.

Cosmic-void observations reconciled with primordial magnetogenesis

It has been suggested that the weak magnetic field hosted by the intergalactic medium in cosmic voids could be a relic from the early Universe. However, accepted models of turbulent magnetohydrodynamic decay predict that the present-day strength of fields originally generated at the electroweak phase transition (EWPT) without parity violation would be too low to explain the observed scattering of γ-rays from TeV blazars. Here, we propose that the decay is mediated by magnetic reconnection and conserves the mean square fluctuation level of magnetic helicity. We find that the relic fields would be stronger by several orders of magnitude under this theory than was indicated by previous treatments, which restores the consistency of the EWPT-relic hypothesis with the observational constraints. Moreover, efficient EWPT magnetogenesis would produce relics at the strength required to resolve the Hubble tension via magnetic effects at recombination and seed galaxy-cluster fields close to their present-day strength.

Parameter study of decaying magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

It is well known that helical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence exhibits an inverse transfer of magnetic energy from small to large scales, which is related to the approximate conservation of magnetic helicity. Recently, several numerical investigations noticed the existence of an inverse energy transfer also in nonhelical MHD flows. We run a set of fully resolved direct numerical simulations and perform a wide parameter study of the inverse energy transfer and the decaying laws of helical and nonhelical MHD. Our numerical results show only a small inverse transfer of energy that grows as with increasing Prandtl number (Pm). This latter feature may have interesting consequences for cosmic magnetic field evolution. Additionally, we find that the decaying laws E∼t^{-p} are independent of the scale separation and depend solely on Pm and Re. In the helical case we measure a dependence of the form p_{b}≈0.6+14/Re. We also make a comparison between our results and previous literature and discuss the possible reason for the observed disagreements.

Progress on cosmological magnetic fields

A variety of observations impose upper limits at the nano Gauss level on magnetic fields that are coherent on inter-galactic scales while blazar observations indicate a lower bound ∼10^-16G. Such magnetic fields can play an important astrophysical role, for example at cosmic recombination and during structure formation, and also provide crucial information for particle physics in the early Universe. Magnetic fields with significant energy density could have been produced at the electroweak phase transition. The evolution and survival of magnetic fields produced on sub-horizon scales in the early Universe, however, depends on the magnetic helicity which is related to violation of symmetries in fundamental particle interactions. The generation of magnetic helicity requires new CP violating interactions that can be tested by accelerator experiments via decay channels of the Higgs particle.

From Primordial Seed Magnetic Fields to the Galactic Dynamo

The origin and maintenance of coherent magnetic fields in the Universe is reviewed with an emphasis on the possible challenges that arise in their theoretical understanding. We begin with the interesting possibility that magnetic fields originated at some level from the early universe. This could be during inflation, the electroweak, or the quark-hadron phase transitions. These mechanisms can give rise to fields which could be strong, but often with much smaller coherence scales than galactic scales. Their subsequent turbulent decay decreases their strength but increases their coherence. We then turn to astrophysical batteries which can generate seed magnetic fields. Here the coherence scale can be large, but the field strength is generally very small. These seed fields need to be further amplified and maintained by a dynamo to explain observed magnetic fields in galaxies. Basic ideas behind both small and large-scale turbulent dynamos are outlined. The small-scale dynamo may help to understand the first magnetization of young galaxies, while the large-scale dynamo is important for the generation of fields with scales larger than the stirring scale, as observed in nearby disk galaxies. The current theoretical challenges that turbulent dynamos encounter and their possible resolution are discussed.