Equatorial magnetic helicity flux in simulations with different gauges

Mitra, D., Candelaresi, S. , Chaterjee, P., Tavakol, R. and Brandenburg, A. (2010) Equatorial magnetic helicity flux in simulations with different gauges. Astronomische Nachrichten, 331(1), pp. 130-135. (doi: 10.1002/asna.200911308)

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Abstract

We use direct numerical simulations of forced MHD turbulence with a forcing function that produces two different signs of kinetic helicity in the upper and lower parts of the domain. We show that the mean flux of magnetic helicity from the small‐scale field between the two parts of the domain can be described by a Fickian diffusion law with a diffusion coefficient that is approximately independent of the magnetic Reynolds number and about one third of the estimated turbulent magnetic diffusivity. The data suggest that the turbulent diffusive magnetic helicity flux can only be expected to alleviate catastrophic quenching at Reynolds numbers of more than several thousands. We further calculate the magnetic helicity density and its flux in the domain for three different gauges. We consider the Weyl gauge, in which the electrostatic potential vanishes, the pseudo‐Lorenz gauge, where the speed of light is replaced by the sound speed, and the ‘resistive gauge’ in which the Laplacian of the magnetic vector potential acts as a resistive term. We find that, in the statistically steady state, the time‐averaged magnetic helicity density and the magnetic helicity flux are the same in all three gauges.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Candelaresi, Dr Simon
Authors: Mitra, D., Candelaresi, S., Chaterjee, P., Tavakol, R., and Brandenburg, A.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Mathematics
Journal Name:Astronomische Nachrichten
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:0004-6337
ISSN (Online):1521-3994
Published Online:28 December 2009

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