https://astro-beattie.com/tags/plasma-relaxation/Plasma RelaxationHugo Blox Builder (https://hugoblox.com)en-usTue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://astro-beattie.com/media/icon_hu58f049e2f3dec21651e29209817604b1_360074_512x512_fill_lanczos_center_3.pnghttps://astro-beattie.com/tags/plasma-relaxation/https://astro-beattie.com/publication/dynamical_alignment/Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://astro-beattie.com/publication/dynamical_alignment/<h2 id="order-within-turbulent-plasma">Order within turbulent plasma</h2> <p>Our paper with Amitava Bhattacharjee has been <strong>accepted in Physical Review Letters</strong>. The <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.15538">updated paper</a> explores how a turbulent plasma organizes itself into locally aligned patches, even while the flow remains turbulent overall.</p> <p>We compare simulations with and without a mean magnetic field, using grids as large as <strong>10,368³ cells</strong>. Below the scale where kinetic and magnetic energies balance, the velocity, magnetic field, vorticity, and electric current show distinct patterns of alignment. The image above reveals the intricate spatial structure of velocity–magnetic alignment.</p> <p>The revised study connects this local organization to a model for how departures from relaxed states move between scales. It predicts the measured velocity–magnetic and velocity–vorticity alignment exponents, helping explain the geometry of turbulent eddies and when magnetic reconnection may reshape the cascade.</p> <p><a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15538">Read the accepted manuscript →</a></p>https://astro-beattie.com/post/alignment-prl-accepted/Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://astro-beattie.com/post/alignment-prl-accepted/<p>Our paper, <em>Local relaxation and scale-dependent alignment in compressible, magnetized turbulence</em>, with Amitava Bhattacharjee has been <strong>accepted in Physical Review Letters</strong>!</p> <p>The updated study combines simulations with and without a mean magnetic field and a new model for departures from locally relaxed states. Together, they explain how alignment changes with scale in turbulent plasma.</p> <p><a href="https://astro-beattie.com/publication/dynamical_alignment/">Explore the science highlight</a> or <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.15538">read the updated paper on arXiv</a>.</p>