Emergence of intermittent structures and reconnection in MHD turbulence

Abstract

In recent analyses of numerical simulation and solar wind dataset, the idea that the magnetic discontinuities may be related to intermittent structures that appear spontaneously in MHD turbulence has been explored in details. These studies are consistent with the hypothesis that discontinuity events founds in the solar wind might be of local origin as well, i.e. a by-product of the turbulent evolution of magnetic fluctuations. Using simulations of 2D MHD turbulence, we are exploring a possible link between tangential discontinuities and magnetic reconnection. The goal is to develop numerical algorithms that may be useful for solar wind applications. © 2011 International Astronomical Union.