arXiv subjects

Petr Hellinger

Publications and source records attributed to Petr Hellinger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Solar Wind Proton Heating and its Effect on Temperature Anisotropy Evolution between 0.05 and 1 au

This study focuses on the radial evolution of the solar wind proton adiabatic invariants and temperature anisotropies in the inner heliosphere. More specifically, we study in-situ measurements provided by the Parker Solar Probe, between 0.05 au and 0.25 au from the Sun, and Solar Orbiter spacecraft between 0.3 au and 1 au. Throughout the studied range of radial distances, we observe a significant average heating in the direction perpendicular to the local magnetic field for both fast and slow solar wind populations. On the other hand, there is no clear deviation from adiabaticity in the parallel direction regardless of the wind speed. The perpendicular heating is enough to significantly reduce the generation of the temperature anisotropy expected from a double adiabatic evolution. Despite the heating, an important portion of the solar wind (especially the slower wind streams) develops substantial anisotropies with higher parallel temperatures, which eventually become constrained by kinetic firehose instabilities.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Shear interaction and acceleration of a corotating stream detected by Parker Solar Probe

Recent analysis of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and Solar Orbiter data indicates that fluctuations energy is transferred to the bulk flow in fast streams of the solar wind at heliocentric distances between 15 and 120 Rsun. To gain insight into this process, we analyze data collected during the inbound orbit of PSP in Encounter 10, when it is in approximate corotation with the Sun and an accelerating stream is detected between 25 and 45 Rsun. The geometry of the flow indicates that a neighboring very fast streams is colliding with the corotating stream, causing large-scale magnetic field distortion, density enhancement, and acceleration. However, also deposition of fluctuations' energy can heat and do work on the solar wind plasma, resulting in a radial acceleration. We evaluate the energy lost by fluctuations via radial variation of conserved quantities in the corotating stream and find that it is almost equally partitioned into heating and work. While the heating is marginally consistent with the non-adiabatic decrease of proton temperature, the work exerted on the wind is insufficient to account for the measured solar wind acceleration. Although limited to this event, observations suggest that shear interaction is capable of accelerating slower streams within relatively short distances from the Sun, possibly leaving its imprint as large-scale density and magnetic fluctuations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Tearing Driven Reconnection: Energy Conversion Involving Firehose Kinetic Instabilities (2D Hybrid M\"obius Simulations)

This study focuses on energy conversion related to tearing-driven magnetic reconnection in the context of weakly collisional astrophysical plasmas. We present results from a two-dimensional hybrid particle-in-cell simulation employing novel periodic conditions with a topology akin to the M\"obius strip, which double the computation efficiency as compared to regular periodic conditions. Evaluation of the ion electric work rate ($\mathbf{j}_i \cdot \mathbf{E}$) and pressure strain interaction ($\mathbf{P}_i : \mathbf{\nabla u}_i)$ shows that most of the energy conversion occurs during the nonlinear phase of the instability, where magnetic energy is transferred towards ion kinetic energy (bulk outflows) and internal energy (heating). These energy conversion rates are of the same order but inhomogeneous. Heating predominantly occurs within the magnetic islands, while near the X-points, nearly the same amount of magnetic energy is transferred to bulk plasma flow and heating. The reconnected plasma moreover exhibits an ion temperature higher parallel than perpendicular to the local magnetic field $\mathbf{B}$. This temperature anisotropy is sustained by the islands' contraction, but eventually gets regulated by kinetic firehose instabilities (parallel and oblique), and/or firehose-like processes, whose main effect is to redistribute the internal energy from the parallel to the perpendicular direction.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Rugged magneto-hydrodynamic invariants in weakly collisional plasma turbulence: Two-dimensional hybrid simulation results

Aims. We investigated plasma turbulence in the context of solar wind. We concentrated on properties of ideal second-order magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) and Hall MHD invariants. Methods. We studied the results of a two-dimensional hybrid simulation of decaying plasma turbulence with an initial large cross helicity and a negligible magnetic helicity. We investigated the evolution of the combined energy and the cross, kinetic, mixed, and magnetic helicities. For the combined energy and the cross, kinetic, and mixed helicities, we analysed the corresponding K\'arm\'an-Howarth-Monin (KHM) equation in the hybrid (kinetic proton and fluid electron) approximation. Results. The KHM analysis shows that the combined energy decays at large scales. At intermediate scales, this energy cascades (from large to small scales) via the MHD non-linearity and this cascade partly continues via Hall coupling to sub-ion scales. The cascading combined energy is transferred (dissipated) to the internal energy at small scales via the resistive dissipation and the pressure-strain effect. The Hall term couples the cross helicity with the kinetic one, suggesting that the coupled invariant, referred to here as the mixed helicity, is a relevant turbulence quantity. However, when analysed using the KHM equations, the kinetic and mixed helicities exhibit very dissimilar behaviours to that of the combined energy. On the other hand, the cross helicity, in analogy to the energy, decays at large scales, cascades from large to small scales via the MHD+Hall non-linearity, and is dissipated at small scales via the resistive dissipation and the cross-helicity equivalent of the pressure-strain effect. In contrast to the combined energy, the Hall term is important for the cross helicity over a wide range of scales. The magnetic helicity is scantily generated through the resistive term and does not exhibit any cascade.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Anisotropic electron heating in turbulence-driven magnetic reconnection in the near-Sun solar wind

We perform a high-resolution two-dimensional fully-kinetic numerical simulation of a turbulent plasma system with observation-driven conditions, in order to investigate the interplay between turbulence, magnetic reconnection, and particle heating from ion to sub-electron scales in the near-Sun solar wind. We find that the power spectra of the turbulent plasma and electromagnetic fluctuations show multiple power-law intervals down to scales smaller than the electron gyroradius. Magnetic reconnection is observed to occur in correspondence of current sheets with a thickness of the order of the electron inertial length, which form and shrink due to interacting ion-scale vortexes. In some cases, both ion and electron outflows are observed (the classic reconnection scenario), while in others -- typically for the shortest current sheets -- only electron jets are presents ("electron-only reconnection"). At the onset of reconnection, the electron temperature starts to increase and a strong parallel temperature anisotropy develops. This suggests that in strong turbulence electron-scale coherent structures may play a significant role for electron heating, as impulsive and localized phenomena such as magnetic reconnection may transfer energy from the electromagnetic fields to particles more efficiently than damping mechanisms related to interactions with wave-like fluctuations.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2022

Ion-scale transition of plasma turbulence: Pressure-strain effect

We investigate properties of solar wind-like plasma turbulence using direct numerical simulations. We analyze the transition from large, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) scales to the ion characteristic ones using two-dimensional hybrid (fluid electrons, kinetic ions) simulations. To capture and quantify turbulence properties, we apply the Karman-Howarth-Monin (KHM) equation for compressible Hall MHD (extended by considering the plasma pressure as a tensor quantity) to the numerical results. The KHM analysis indicates that the transition from MHD to ion scales (the so called ion break in the power spectrum) results from a combination of an onset of Hall physics and of an effective dissipation owing to the pressure-strain energy-exchange channel and resistivity. We discuss the simulation results in the context of the solar wind.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

Spectrum of kinetic plasma turbulence at 0.3-0.9 astronomical units from the Sun

We investigate spectral properties of turbulence in the solar wind that is a weakly collisional astrophysical plasma, accessible to in-situ observations. Using the Helios search coil magnetometer measurements in the fast solar wind, in the inner heliosphere, we focus on properties of the turbulent magnetic fluctuations at scales smaller than the ion characteristic scales, the so-called kinetic plasma turbulence. At such small scales, we show that the magnetic power spectra between 0.3 and 0.9 AU from the Sun have a generic shape $\sim f^{-8/3}\exp{(-f/f_d)}$ where the dissipation frequency $f_d$ is correlated with the Doppler shifted frequency $f_{\rho e}$ of the electron Larmor radius. This behavior is statistically significant: all the observed kinetic spectra are well described by this model, with $f_d = f_{\rho e}/1.8$. Our results indicate that the electron gyroradius plays the role of the dissipation scale and marks the end of the electromagnetic cascade in the solar wind.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2021

Spacetime Hall-MHD turbulence at sub-ion scales: structures or waves?

Spatiotemporal properties of two-dimensional (2D) Hall-magnetohydrodynamic turbulence at intermediate plasma $\beta=2$ are studied by means of Fast Iterative Filtering, a new technique for the decomposition of nonstationary nonlinear signals. Results show that the magnetic energy at sub-ion scales is concentrated in perturbations with frequencies smaller than the ion-cyclotron (IC) frequency and with polarization properties that are incompatible with both kinetic Alfv\'en waves (KAWs) and IC waves. At higher frequencies, we clearly identify signatures of both whistler waves and KAWs, however their energetic contribution to the magnetic power spectrum is negligible. We conclude that the dynamics of 2D Hall-MHD turbulence at sub-ion scales is mainly driven by localized intermittent structures, with no significant contribution of wavelike fluctuations.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Spectral transfer and K\'arm\'an-Howarth-Monin equations for compressible Hall magnetohydrodynamics

We derive two new forms of the K\'arm\'an-Howarth-Monin equation for decaying compressible Hall magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. We test them on results of a weakly-compressible, two-dimensional, moderate-Reynolds-number Hall MHD simulation and compare them with an isotropic spectral transfer (ST) equation. The KHM and ST equations are automatically satisfied during the whole simulation owing to the periodic boundary conditions and have complementary cumulative behavior. They are used here to analyze the onset of turbulence and its properties when it is fully developed. These approaches give equivalent results characterizing: the decay of the kinetic + magnetic energy at large scales, the MHD and Hall cross-scale energy transfer/cascade, the pressure dilatation, and the dissipation. The Hall cascade appears when the MHD one brings the energy close to the ion inertial range and is related to the formation of reconnecting current sheets. At later times, the pressure-dilation energy-exchange rate oscillates around zero with no net effect on the cross-scale energy transfer when averaged over a period of its oscillations. A reduced one-dimensional analysis suggests that all three methods may be useful to estimate the energy cascade rate from in situ observations.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Evidence of a "current-mediated" turbulent regime in space and astrophysical plasmas

How the turbulent energy cascade develops below the magnetohydrodynamic scales in space and astrophysical plasmas is a major open question. Here, we measure the power spectrum of magnetic fluctuations in Parker Solar Probe's observations close to the Sun and in state-of-the-art numerical simulations of plasma turbulence. Both reveal a power-law behavior with a slope compatible with $-11/3$ at scales smaller than the ion characteristic scales, steeper than what is typically observed in the solar wind and in the Earth's magnetosheath. We explain such behavior by developing a simple two-fluid model which does not require any kinetic processes nor electron-inertia effects. This is characterized by a significant contribution of the ion kinetic energy to the total turbulent energy cascade at sub-ion scales, although the dynamics is driven by the magnetic field through the current density. We expect that this regime may be relevant for a broad class of low-beta plasmas, e.g. the solar corona, non-relativistic magnetized jets and disks, and laboratory plasmas.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Multidimensional Iterative Filtering: a new approach for investigating plasma turbulence in numerical simulations

Turbulent space and astrophysical plasmas exhibit a complex dynamics, which involves nonlinear coupling across different temporal and spatial scales. There is growing evidence that impulsive events, such as magnetic reconnection instabilities, lead to a spatially localized enhancement of energy dissipation, thus speeding up the energy transfer at small scales. Capturing such a diverse dynamics is challenging. Here, we employ the Multidimensional Iterative Filtering (MIF) method, a novel technique for the analysis of nonstationary multidimensional signals. Unlike other traditional methods (e.g., based on Fourier or wavelet decomposition), MIF does not require any previous assumption on the functional form of the signal to be identified. Using MIF, we carry out a multiscale analysis of Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (HMHD) and hybrid particle-in-cell (HPIC) numerical simulations of decaying plasma turbulence. The results assess the ability of MIF to spatially identify and separate the different scales (the MHD inertial range, the sub-ion kinetic, and the dissipation scales) of the plasma dynamics. Furthermore, MIF decomposition allows to detect localized current structures and to characterize their contribution to the statistical and spectral properties of turbulence. Overall, MIF arises as a very promising technique for the study of turbulent plasma environments.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

On cascade of kinetic energy in compressible hydrodynamic turbulence

Properties of the turbulent cascade of kinetic energy are studied using direct numerical simulations of three-dimensional hydrodynamic decaying turbulence with a moderate Reynolds number and the initial Mach number $M=1$. Compressible and incompressible versions of the Karman-Howarth-Monin (KHM) and low-pass filtering/coarse-graining approaches are compared. In the simulation the total energy is well conserved; the scale dependent KHM and coarse-grained energy equations are also well conserved; the two approaches show similar results, the system does not have an inertial range for the cascade of kinetic energy, the region where this cascade dominates also have a non-negligible contribution of the kinetic-energy decay, dissipation, and pressure-dilatation effects. While the two approaches give semi-quantitatively similar results for the kinetic energy cascade, dissipation and pressure-dilatation rates, they differ in the increment separation and filtering scales; these scales are not simply related. The two approaches may be used to find the inertial range and to determine the cascade/dissipation rate of the kinetic energy.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Kinetic turbulence in space plasmas observed in the near-Earth and near-Sun solar wind

Turbulence develops in any stressed flow when the scales of the forcing are much larger than those of the dissipation. In neutral fluids, it consists of chaotic motions in physical space but with a universal energy spectrum in Fourier space. Intermittency (non-Gaussian statistics of fluctuations) is another general property and it is related to the presence of coherent structures. Space plasmas are turbulent as well. Here, we focus on the kinetic plasma scales, which are not yet well understood. We address the following fundamental questions: (1) Do the turbulent fluctuations at kinetic scales form a universal spectrum? and (2) What is the nature of the fluctuations? Using measurements in the solar wind we show that the magnetic spectra of kinetic turbulence at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 AU from the Sun have the same shape as the ones close to the Earth orbit at 1 AU, indicating universality of the phenomenon. The fluctuations, which form this spectrum, are typically non-linearly interacting eddies that tend to generate magnetic filaments.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2019

Modeling Kelvin-Helmholtz instability-driven turbulence with hybrid simulations of Alfv\'enic turbulence

Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations of plasma turbulence generated by a Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) event at the Earth's magnetopause are compared with a high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) hybrid direct numerical simulation (DNS) of decaying plasma turbulence driven by large-scale balanced Alfv\'enic fluctuations. The simulation, set up with four observation-driven physical parameters (ion and electron betas, turbulence strength, and injection scale) exhibits a quantitative agreement on the spectral, intermittency, and cascade-rate properties with in situ observations, despite the different driving mechanisms. Such agreement demonstrates a certain universality of the turbulent cascade from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) to sub-ion scales, whose properties are mainly determined by the selected parameters, also indicating that the KH instability-driven turbulence has a quasi-2D nature. The validity of the Taylor hypothesis in the sub-ion spatial range suggests that the fluctuations at sub-ion scales have predominantly low frequencies, consistent with a kinetic Alfv\'en wave-like nature or with quasi-static structures. Finally, the third-order structure function analysis indicates that the cascade rate of the turbulence generated by a KH event in the magnetopause is an order of magnitude larger than in the ambient magnetosheath.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2019

Fast acceleration of transrelativistic electrons in astrophysical turbulence

Highly energetic, relativistic electrons are commonly present in many astrophysical systems, from solar flares to the intra-cluster medium, as indicated by observed electromagnetic radiation. However, open questions remain about the mechanisms responsible for their acceleration, and possible re-acceleration. Ubiquitous plasma turbulence is one of the possible universal mechanisms. We study the energization of transrelativistic electrons in turbulence using hybrid particle-in-cell, which provide a realistic model of Alfv\'{e}nic turbulence from MHD to sub-ion scales, and test particle simulations for electrons. We find that, depending on the electron initial energy and turbulence strength, electrons may undergo a fast and efficient phase of energization due to the magnetic curvature drift during the time they are trapped in dynamic magnetic structures. In addition, electrons are accelerated stochastically which is a slower process that yields lower maximum energies. The combined effect of these two processes determines the overall electron acceleration. With appropriate turbulence parameters, we find that superthermal electrons can be accelerated up to relativistic energies. For example, with heliospheric parameters and a relatively high turbulence level, rapid energization to MeV energies is possible.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

In-situ observation of Hall Magnetohydrodynamic Cascade in Space Plasma

We present estimates of the turbulent energy cascade rate, derived from a Hall-MHD third-order law. We compute the contribution from the Hall term and the MHD term to the energy flux. We use MMS data accumulated in the magnetosheath and the solar wind, and compare the results with previously established simulation results. We find that in observation, the MHD contribution is dominant at inertial scales, as in the simulations, but the Hall term becomes significant in observations at larger scales than in the simulations. Possible reasons are offered for this unanticipated result.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2019

Spectral anisotropies and intermittency of plasma turbulence at ion kinetic scales

By means of three dimensional high-resolution hybrid simulations we study the properties of the magnetic field spectral anisotropies near and beyond ion kinetic scales. By using both a Fourier analysis and a local analysis based on multi-point 2nd-order structure function techniques, we show that the anisotropy observed is less than what expected by standard wave normal modes turbulence theories although the non linear energy transfer is still in the perpendicular direction, only advected in the parallel direction as expected balancing the non-linear energy transfer time and the decorrelation time. Such result can be explained by a phenomenological model based on the formation of strong intermittent two-dimensional structures in the plane perpendicular to the local mean field that have some prescribed aspect ratio eventually depending on the scale. This model support the idea that small scales structures, such as reconnecting current sheets, contribute significantly to the formation of the turbulent cascade at kinetic scales.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Can Hall Magnetohydrodynamics explain plasma turbulence at sub-ion scales?

We investigate the properties of plasma turbulence by means of two-dimensional Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (HMHD) and hybrid particle-in-cell (HPIC) numerical simulations. We find that HMHD simulations exhibit spectral properties that are in most cases in agreement with the results of the HPIC simulations and with solar wind observations. The energy spectra of magnetic fluctuations exhibit a double power-law with spectral index $-5/3$ at MHD scales and $-3$ at kinetic scales, while for velocity fluctuations the spectral index is $-3/2$ at MHD scales. The break between the MHD and the kinetic scales occurs at the same scale in both simulations. In the MHD range the slopes of the total energy and residual energy spectra satisfy a fast Alfv\'en-dynamo balance. The development of a turbulent cascade is concurrently characterized by magnetic reconnection events taking place in thin current sheets that form between large eddies. A statistical analysis reveals that reconnection is qualitatively the same and fast in both the HMHD and HPIC models, characterized by inverse reconnection rates much smaller than the characteristic large-eddy nonlinear time. The agreement extends to other statistical properties, such us the kurtosis of the magnetic field. Moreover, the observation of a direct energy transfer from the large vortices to the small sub-ion scales triggered by magnetic reconnection, further supports the existence of a reconnection-mediated turbulent regime at kinetic scales. We conclude that the Hall-MHD fluid description captures to a large extent the transition of the turbulent cascade between the large MHD scales and the sub-ion scales.

physics.plasm-ph↗