Assessing the Structure of Isotropic and Anisotropic Turbulent Magnetic Fields

作者:Fatuzzo Marco*; Holden Lisa; Grayson Lindsay; Wallace Kirk
来源:Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2016, 128(968): 104301.
DOI:10.1088/1538-3873/128/968/104301

摘要

Turbulent magnetic fields permeate our universe, impacting a wide range of astronomical phenomena across all cosmic scales. A clear example is the magnetic field that threads the interstellar medium (ISM), which impacts the motion of cosmic rays through that medium. Understanding the structure of magnetic turbulence within the ISM and how it relates to the physical quantities that characterize it can thus inform our analysis of particle transport within these regions. Toward that end, we probe the structure of magentic turbulence through the use of Lyapunov exponents for a suite of isotropic and nonisotropic Alfvenic turbulence profiles. Our results provide a means of calculating a "turbulence lengthscale" that can then be connected to how cosmic rays propagate through magentically turbulent environments, and we perform such an analysis for molecular cloud environments.

  • 出版日期2016-10