Time-resolved turbulent dynamo in a laser plasma

Archie F.A. Bott; Petros Tzeferacos; Laura Chen; Charlotte A.J. Palmer; Alexandra Rigby; Anthony R. Bell; Robert Bingham; Andrew Birkel; Carlo Graziani; Dustin H. Froula; Joseph Katz; Michel Koenig; Matthew W. Kunz; Chikang Li; Jena Meinecke; Francesco Miniati; Richard Petrasso; Hye Sook Park; Bruce A. Remington; Brian Reville; J. Steven Ross; Dongsu Ryu; Dmitri Ryutov; Fredrick H. Séguin; Thomas G. White; Alexander A. Schekochihin; Donald Q. Lamb; Gianluca Gregori

doi:10.1073/pnas.2015729118

Time-resolved turbulent dynamo in a laser plasma

Archie F.A. Bott, Petros Tzeferacos, Laura Chen, Charlotte A.J. Palmer, Alexandra Rigby, Anthony R. Bell, Robert Bingham, Andrew Birkel, Carlo Graziani, Dustin H. Froula, Joseph Katz, Michel Koenig, Matthew W. Kunz, Chikang Li, Jena Meinecke, Francesco Miniati, Richard Petrasso, Hye Sook Park, Bruce A. Remington, Brian RevilleJ. Steven Ross, Dongsu Ryu, Dmitri Ryutov, Fredrick H. Séguin, Thomas G. White, Alexander A. Schekochihin, Donald Q. Lamb, Gianluca Gregori

School of Mathematics and Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Understanding magnetic-field generation and amplification in turbulent plasma is essential to account for observations of magnetic fields in the universe. A theoretical framework attributing the origin and sustainment of these fields to the so-called fluctuation dynamo was recently validated by experiments on laser facilities in low-magnetic-Prandtl-number plasmas (Pm<1). However, the same framework proposes that the fluctuation dynamo should operate differently when Pm ≳ 1, the regime relevant to many astrophysical environments such as the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters. This paper reports an experiment that creates a laboratory Pm ≳ 1 plasma dynamo. We provide a time-resolved characterization of the plasma's evolution, measuring temperatures, densities, flow velocities, and magnetic fields, which allows us to explore various stages of the fluctuation dynamo's operation on seed magnetic fields generated by the action of the Biermann-battery mechanism during the initial drive-laser target interaction. The magnetic energy in structures with characteristic scales close to the driving scale of the stochastic motions is found to increase by almost three orders of magnitude and saturate dynamically. It is shown that the initial growth of these fields occurs at a much greater rate than the turnover rate of the driving-scale stochastic motions. Our results point to the possibility that plasma turbulence produced by strong shear can generate fields more efficiently at the driving scale than anticipated by idealized magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations of the nonhelical fluctuation dynamo; this finding could help explain the large-scale fields inferred from observations of astrophysical systems.

Original language	English
Article number	e2015729118
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	118
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015729118
Publication status	Published - 16 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grants 256973 and 247039; the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract B591485 to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); Field Work Proposal 57789 to Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Subcontract 536203 with Los Alamos National Laboratory; Subcontract B632670 with LLNL; Grants DE-NA0002724, DE-NA0003605, and DE-NA0003934 to the University of Chicago; Grant DE-NA0003868 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Cooperative Agreement DE-NA0003856 to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester. We acknowledge support from the US DOE Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences under Grant DE-SC0016566 and the National Science Foundation under Grants PHY-1619573, PHY-2033925, and AST-1908551. Awards of computer time were provided by the US DOE Advanced Scientific Computing Research Leadership Computing Challenge program, using resources at ANL, which is supported by the US DOE Office of Science under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. We acknowledge funding from Grants 2016R1A5A1013277 and 2017R1A2A1A05071429 of the National Research Foundation of Korea. Support from Atomic Weapons Establishment plc., the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grants EP/M022331/1, EP/N014472/1, and EP/R034737/1), and the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council is also acknowledged.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Fluctuation dynamo
Laboratory astrophysics
Magnetic fields

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

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Bott, A. F. A., Tzeferacos, P., Chen, L., Palmer, C. A. J., Rigby, A., Bell, A. R., Bingham, R., Birkel, A., Graziani, C., Froula, D. H., Katz, J., Koenig, M., Kunz, M. W., Li, C., Meinecke, J., Miniati, F., Petrasso, R., Park, H. S., Remington, B. A., ... Gregori, G. (2021). Time-resolved turbulent dynamo in a laser plasma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(11), Article e2015729118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015729118

@article{355ab890c9b2404198c25d6501241d02,

title = "Time-resolved turbulent dynamo in a laser plasma",

abstract = "Understanding magnetic-field generation and amplification in turbulent plasma is essential to account for observations of magnetic fields in the universe. A theoretical framework attributing the origin and sustainment of these fields to the so-called fluctuation dynamo was recently validated by experiments on laser facilities in low-magnetic-Prandtl-number plasmas (Pm<1). However, the same framework proposes that the fluctuation dynamo should operate differently when Pm ≳ 1, the regime relevant to many astrophysical environments such as the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters. This paper reports an experiment that creates a laboratory Pm ≳ 1 plasma dynamo. We provide a time-resolved characterization of the plasma's evolution, measuring temperatures, densities, flow velocities, and magnetic fields, which allows us to explore various stages of the fluctuation dynamo's operation on seed magnetic fields generated by the action of the Biermann-battery mechanism during the initial drive-laser target interaction. The magnetic energy in structures with characteristic scales close to the driving scale of the stochastic motions is found to increase by almost three orders of magnitude and saturate dynamically. It is shown that the initial growth of these fields occurs at a much greater rate than the turnover rate of the driving-scale stochastic motions. Our results point to the possibility that plasma turbulence produced by strong shear can generate fields more efficiently at the driving scale than anticipated by idealized magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations of the nonhelical fluctuation dynamo; this finding could help explain the large-scale fields inferred from observations of astrophysical systems.",

keywords = "Fluctuation dynamo, Laboratory astrophysics, Magnetic fields",

author = "Bott, {Archie F.A.} and Petros Tzeferacos and Laura Chen and Palmer, {Charlotte A.J.} and Alexandra Rigby and Bell, {Anthony R.} and Robert Bingham and Andrew Birkel and Carlo Graziani and Froula, {Dustin H.} and Joseph Katz and Michel Koenig and Kunz, {Matthew W.} and Chikang Li and Jena Meinecke and Francesco Miniati and Richard Petrasso and Park, {Hye Sook} and Remington, {Bruce A.} and Brian Reville and Ross, {J. Steven} and Dongsu Ryu and Dmitri Ryutov and S{\'e}guin, {Fredrick H.} and White, {Thomas G.} and Schekochihin, {Alexander A.} and Lamb, {Donald Q.} and Gianluca Gregori",

note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grants 256973 and 247039; the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract B591485 to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); Field Work Proposal 57789 to Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Subcontract 536203 with Los Alamos National Laboratory; Subcontract B632670 with LLNL; Grants DE-NA0002724, DE-NA0003605, and DE-NA0003934 to the University of Chicago; Grant DE-NA0003868 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Cooperative Agreement DE-NA0003856 to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester. We acknowledge support from the US DOE Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences under Grant DE-SC0016566 and the National Science Foundation under Grants PHY-1619573, PHY-2033925, and AST-1908551. Awards of computer time were provided by the US DOE Advanced Scientific Computing Research Leadership Computing Challenge program, using resources at ANL, which is supported by the US DOE Office of Science under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. We acknowledge funding from Grants 2016R1A5A1013277 and 2017R1A2A1A05071429 of the National Research Foundation of Korea. Support from Atomic Weapons Establishment plc., the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grants EP/M022331/1, EP/N014472/1, and EP/R034737/1), and the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council is also acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = mar,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2015729118",

language = "English",

volume = "118",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "NATL ACAD SCIENCES",

number = "11",

}

Bott, AFA, Tzeferacos, P, Chen, L, Palmer, CAJ, Rigby, A, Bell, AR, Bingham, R, Birkel, A, Graziani, C, Froula, DH, Katz, J, Koenig, M, Kunz, MW, Li, C, Meinecke, J, Miniati, F, Petrasso, R, Park, HS, Remington, BA, Reville, B, Ross, JS, Ryu, D, Ryutov, D, Séguin, FH, White, TG, Schekochihin, AA, Lamb, DQ & Gregori, G 2021, 'Time-resolved turbulent dynamo in a laser plasma', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 118, no. 11, e2015729118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015729118

TY - JOUR

T1 - Time-resolved turbulent dynamo in a laser plasma

AU - Bott, Archie F.A.

AU - Tzeferacos, Petros

AU - Chen, Laura

AU - Palmer, Charlotte A.J.

AU - Rigby, Alexandra

AU - Bell, Anthony R.

AU - Bingham, Robert

AU - Birkel, Andrew

AU - Graziani, Carlo

AU - Froula, Dustin H.

AU - Katz, Joseph

AU - Koenig, Michel

AU - Kunz, Matthew W.

AU - Li, Chikang

AU - Meinecke, Jena

AU - Miniati, Francesco

AU - Petrasso, Richard

AU - Park, Hye Sook

AU - Remington, Bruce A.

AU - Reville, Brian

AU - Ross, J. Steven

AU - Ryu, Dongsu

AU - Ryutov, Dmitri

AU - Séguin, Fredrick H.

AU - White, Thomas G.

AU - Schekochihin, Alexander A.

AU - Lamb, Donald Q.

AU - Gregori, Gianluca

N1 - Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grants 256973 and 247039; the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract B591485 to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); Field Work Proposal 57789 to Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Subcontract 536203 with Los Alamos National Laboratory; Subcontract B632670 with LLNL; Grants DE-NA0002724, DE-NA0003605, and DE-NA0003934 to the University of Chicago; Grant DE-NA0003868 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Cooperative Agreement DE-NA0003856 to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester. We acknowledge support from the US DOE Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences under Grant DE-SC0016566 and the National Science Foundation under Grants PHY-1619573, PHY-2033925, and AST-1908551. Awards of computer time were provided by the US DOE Advanced Scientific Computing Research Leadership Computing Challenge program, using resources at ANL, which is supported by the US DOE Office of Science under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. We acknowledge funding from Grants 2016R1A5A1013277 and 2017R1A2A1A05071429 of the National Research Foundation of Korea. Support from Atomic Weapons Establishment plc., the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grants EP/M022331/1, EP/N014472/1, and EP/R034737/1), and the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council is also acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/3/16

Y1 - 2021/3/16

N2 - Understanding magnetic-field generation and amplification in turbulent plasma is essential to account for observations of magnetic fields in the universe. A theoretical framework attributing the origin and sustainment of these fields to the so-called fluctuation dynamo was recently validated by experiments on laser facilities in low-magnetic-Prandtl-number plasmas (Pm<1). However, the same framework proposes that the fluctuation dynamo should operate differently when Pm ≳ 1, the regime relevant to many astrophysical environments such as the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters. This paper reports an experiment that creates a laboratory Pm ≳ 1 plasma dynamo. We provide a time-resolved characterization of the plasma's evolution, measuring temperatures, densities, flow velocities, and magnetic fields, which allows us to explore various stages of the fluctuation dynamo's operation on seed magnetic fields generated by the action of the Biermann-battery mechanism during the initial drive-laser target interaction. The magnetic energy in structures with characteristic scales close to the driving scale of the stochastic motions is found to increase by almost three orders of magnitude and saturate dynamically. It is shown that the initial growth of these fields occurs at a much greater rate than the turnover rate of the driving-scale stochastic motions. Our results point to the possibility that plasma turbulence produced by strong shear can generate fields more efficiently at the driving scale than anticipated by idealized magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations of the nonhelical fluctuation dynamo; this finding could help explain the large-scale fields inferred from observations of astrophysical systems.

AB - Understanding magnetic-field generation and amplification in turbulent plasma is essential to account for observations of magnetic fields in the universe. A theoretical framework attributing the origin and sustainment of these fields to the so-called fluctuation dynamo was recently validated by experiments on laser facilities in low-magnetic-Prandtl-number plasmas (Pm<1). However, the same framework proposes that the fluctuation dynamo should operate differently when Pm ≳ 1, the regime relevant to many astrophysical environments such as the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters. This paper reports an experiment that creates a laboratory Pm ≳ 1 plasma dynamo. We provide a time-resolved characterization of the plasma's evolution, measuring temperatures, densities, flow velocities, and magnetic fields, which allows us to explore various stages of the fluctuation dynamo's operation on seed magnetic fields generated by the action of the Biermann-battery mechanism during the initial drive-laser target interaction. The magnetic energy in structures with characteristic scales close to the driving scale of the stochastic motions is found to increase by almost three orders of magnitude and saturate dynamically. It is shown that the initial growth of these fields occurs at a much greater rate than the turnover rate of the driving-scale stochastic motions. Our results point to the possibility that plasma turbulence produced by strong shear can generate fields more efficiently at the driving scale than anticipated by idealized magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations of the nonhelical fluctuation dynamo; this finding could help explain the large-scale fields inferred from observations of astrophysical systems.

KW - Fluctuation dynamo

KW - Laboratory astrophysics

KW - Magnetic fields

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2015729118

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2015729118

M3 - Article

C2 - 33729988

AN - SCOPUS:85102388027

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 118

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 11

M1 - e2015729118

ER -

Time-resolved turbulent dynamo in a laser plasma

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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