Parallel simulations of Hall MHD plasmas

Abstract

Plasma processes such as magnetic reconnection, turbulent regimes or dynamo-generated magnetic fields, are well studied within the framework of one-fluid magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). However, there are processes such as the Hall current, which are not covered by the MHD description. The Hall effect is known to be relevant for the dynamics of several astrophysical plasmas, such as the interstellar medium, the early universe, or the solar wind at 1 AU. While the relevance of Hall currents in magnetic reconnection is intensively being studied (specially in connection with reconnection events at the Earth’s magnetopause and magnetotail), their role on turbulent regimes or on dynamo mechanisms is mostly unknown. We report results from parallel simulations of the incompressible Hall-MHD equations in 21÷2 and three dimensions to quantitatively investigate the role of Hall currents in different problems, such as magnetic reconnection in 21÷2 dimensions, the dynamo generation of magnetic fields in three-dimensional simulations, or the relaxation to stationary turbulent regimes.