Supersonic plasma turbulence in the laboratory

T. G. White; M. T. Oliver; P. Mabey; M. Kühn-Kauffeldt; A. F. A. Bott; L. N. K. Döhl; A. R. Bell; R. Bingham; R. Clarke; J. Foster; G. Giacinti; P. Graham; R. Heathcote; M. Koenig; Y. Kuramitsu; D. Q. Lamb; J. Meinecke; Th. Michel; F. Miniati; M. Notley; B. Reville; D. Ryu; S. Sarkar; Y. Sakawa; M. P. Selwood; J. Squire; R. H. H. Scott; P. Tzeferacos; N. Woolsey; A. A. Schekochihin; G. Gregori

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09498-y

Supersonic plasma turbulence in the laboratory

T. G. White^*, M. T. Oliver, P. Mabey, M. Kühn-Kauffeldt, A. F. A. Bott, L. N. K. Döhl, A. R. Bell, R. Bingham, R. Clarke, J. Foster, G. Giacinti, P. Graham, R. Heathcote, M. Koenig, Y. Kuramitsu, D. Q. Lamb, J. Meinecke, Th. Michel, F. Miniati, M. NotleyB. Reville, D. Ryu, S. Sarkar, Y. Sakawa, M. P. Selwood, J. Squire, R. H. H. Scott, P. Tzeferacos, N. Woolsey, A. A. Schekochihin, G. Gregori

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The properties of supersonic, compressible plasma turbulence determine the behavior of many terrestrial and astrophysical systems. In the interstellar medium and molecular clouds, compressible turbulence plays a vital role in star formation and the evolution of our galaxy. Observations of the density and velocity power spectra in the Orion B and Perseus molecular clouds show large deviations from those predicted for incompressible turbulence. Hydrodynamic simulations attribute this to the high Mach number in the interstellar medium (ISM), although the exact details of this dependence are not well understood. Here we investigate experimentally the statistical behavior of boundary-free supersonic turbulence created by the collision of two laser-driven high-velocity turbulent plasma jets. The Mach number dependence of the slopes of the density and velocity power spectra agree with astrophysical observations, and supports the notion that the turbulence transitions from being Kolmogorov-like at low Mach number to being more Burgers-like at higher Mach numbers.

Original language	English
Article number	1758
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09498-y
Publication status	Published - 15 Apr 2019

Keywords

plasma turbulence
hydrodynamic simulations
interstellar medium (ISM)
Mach number

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White, T. G., Oliver, M. T., Mabey, P., Kühn-Kauffeldt, M., Bott, A. F. A., Döhl, L. N. K., Bell, A. R., Bingham, R., Clarke, R., Foster, J., Giacinti, G., Graham, P., Heathcote, R., Koenig, M., Kuramitsu, Y., Lamb, D. Q., Meinecke, J., Michel, T., Miniati, F., ... Gregori, G. (2019). Supersonic plasma turbulence in the laboratory. Nature Communications, 10, Article 1758. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09498-y

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title = "Supersonic plasma turbulence in the laboratory",

abstract = "The properties of supersonic, compressible plasma turbulence determine the behavior of many terrestrial and astrophysical systems. In the interstellar medium and molecular clouds, compressible turbulence plays a vital role in star formation and the evolution of our galaxy. Observations of the density and velocity power spectra in the Orion B and Perseus molecular clouds show large deviations from those predicted for incompressible turbulence. Hydrodynamic simulations attribute this to the high Mach number in the interstellar medium (ISM), although the exact details of this dependence are not well understood. Here we investigate experimentally the statistical behavior of boundary-free supersonic turbulence created by the collision of two laser-driven high-velocity turbulent plasma jets. The Mach number dependence of the slopes of the density and velocity power spectra agree with astrophysical observations, and supports the notion that the turbulence transitions from being Kolmogorov-like at low Mach number to being more Burgers-like at higher Mach numbers.",

keywords = "plasma turbulence, hydrodynamic simulations, interstellar medium (ISM), Mach number",

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White, TG, Oliver, MT, Mabey, P, Kühn-Kauffeldt, M, Bott, AFA, Döhl, LNK, Bell, AR, Bingham, R, Clarke, R, Foster, J, Giacinti, G, Graham, P, Heathcote, R, Koenig, M, Kuramitsu, Y, Lamb, DQ, Meinecke, J, Michel, T, Miniati, F, Notley, M, Reville, B, Ryu, D, Sarkar, S, Sakawa, Y, Selwood, MP, Squire, J, Scott, RHH, Tzeferacos, P, Woolsey, N, Schekochihin, AA & Gregori, G 2019, 'Supersonic plasma turbulence in the laboratory', Nature Communications, vol. 10, 1758. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09498-y

TY - JOUR

T1 - Supersonic plasma turbulence in the laboratory

AU - White, T. G.

AU - Oliver, M. T.

AU - Mabey, P.

AU - Kühn-Kauffeldt, M.

AU - Bott, A. F. A.

AU - Döhl, L. N. K.

AU - Bell, A. R.

AU - Bingham, R.

AU - Clarke, R.

AU - Foster, J.

AU - Giacinti, G.

AU - Graham, P.

AU - Heathcote, R.

AU - Koenig, M.

AU - Kuramitsu, Y.

AU - Lamb, D. Q.

AU - Meinecke, J.

AU - Michel, Th.

AU - Miniati, F.

AU - Notley, M.

AU - Reville, B.

AU - Ryu, D.

AU - Sarkar, S.

AU - Sakawa, Y.

AU - Selwood, M. P.

AU - Squire, J.

AU - Scott, R. H. H.

AU - Tzeferacos, P.

AU - Woolsey, N.

AU - Schekochihin, A. A.

AU - Gregori, G.

PY - 2019/4/15

Y1 - 2019/4/15

N2 - The properties of supersonic, compressible plasma turbulence determine the behavior of many terrestrial and astrophysical systems. In the interstellar medium and molecular clouds, compressible turbulence plays a vital role in star formation and the evolution of our galaxy. Observations of the density and velocity power spectra in the Orion B and Perseus molecular clouds show large deviations from those predicted for incompressible turbulence. Hydrodynamic simulations attribute this to the high Mach number in the interstellar medium (ISM), although the exact details of this dependence are not well understood. Here we investigate experimentally the statistical behavior of boundary-free supersonic turbulence created by the collision of two laser-driven high-velocity turbulent plasma jets. The Mach number dependence of the slopes of the density and velocity power spectra agree with astrophysical observations, and supports the notion that the turbulence transitions from being Kolmogorov-like at low Mach number to being more Burgers-like at higher Mach numbers.

AB - The properties of supersonic, compressible plasma turbulence determine the behavior of many terrestrial and astrophysical systems. In the interstellar medium and molecular clouds, compressible turbulence plays a vital role in star formation and the evolution of our galaxy. Observations of the density and velocity power spectra in the Orion B and Perseus molecular clouds show large deviations from those predicted for incompressible turbulence. Hydrodynamic simulations attribute this to the high Mach number in the interstellar medium (ISM), although the exact details of this dependence are not well understood. Here we investigate experimentally the statistical behavior of boundary-free supersonic turbulence created by the collision of two laser-driven high-velocity turbulent plasma jets. The Mach number dependence of the slopes of the density and velocity power spectra agree with astrophysical observations, and supports the notion that the turbulence transitions from being Kolmogorov-like at low Mach number to being more Burgers-like at higher Mach numbers.

KW - plasma turbulence

KW - hydrodynamic simulations

KW - interstellar medium (ISM)

KW - Mach number

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064429152&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-019-09498-y

DO - 10.1038/s41467-019-09498-y

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85064429152

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 10

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 1758

ER -

Supersonic plasma turbulence in the laboratory

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Keywords

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