EPSS 298

MHD Turbulence and Magnetic reconnection

This is an advanced course for graduate students already familiar with space and plasma physics. It is intended for students who have taken an introductory plasma course and have a good background in classical mechanics and electrodynamics.

Textbooks:

And some of the original papers on MHD and resistive MHD stability that we will distribute in class.

Applications will be discussed throughout the course (mainly the Sun, Solar corona, Solar and stellar winds, the Earth’s magnetosphere and some astrophysical applications).

Grading will be based on weekly/biweekly HW assignments and a final presentation on contemporary research.

Topics (details to be adapted according to the audience):

  1. Hydrodynamics; Invariants in Hydrodynamics;
  2. Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD); Invariants in ideal MHD;
  3. Hydrodynamic and MHD Stability (energy principle and instabilities in ideal and resistive MHD);
  4. Magnetic reconnection; Resistive instabilities;
  5. Transition to turbulence in hydrodynamics;
  6. Experimental laws of fully developed turbulence;
  7. The Kolmogorov 1941 theory; Intermittency;
  8. MHD Turbulence; Isotropy, anisotropy, and weak vs strong MHD turbulence;
  9. Magnetic field generation and self-organization;
  10. MHD turbulence and reconnection in the solar wind;
  11. Reconnection observations and theoretical advances in magnetospheric dynamics;
  12. Dissipation range of MHD turbulence: kinetic scales and particle heating and acceleration.

\[ \frac{\partial z^{\pm}}{\partial t}+z^{\mp} \cdot \nabla z^{\pm}=-\nabla P \]