<p>The interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy is magnetized, compressible and turbulent, influencing many key ISM properties, such as star formation, cosmic-ray transport, and metal and phase mixing. Yet, basic statistics describing compressible, magnetized turbulence remain uncertain. Utilizing grid resolutions up to 10,080<sup>3</sup> cells, we simulated highly compressible, magnetized ISM-style turbulence with a magnetic field maintained by a small-scale dynamo. We measured two coexisting kinetic energy cascades, <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <InlineMediaObject> <ImageObject Color="BlackWhite" FileRef="41550_2025_2551_Article_IEq1.gif" Format="GIF" Height="19" Rendition="HTML" Resolution="72" Type="Linedraw" Width="99" /> </InlineMediaObject> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\({{\mathcal{E}}}_{{\rm{kin}}}(k)\propto {k}^{-n}\)</EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math> <mrow> <msub> <mrow> <mi class="MJX-tex-caligraphic" mathvariant="script">E</mi> </mrow> <mrow> <mi mathvariant="normal">kin</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mo>∝</mo> <msup> <mrow> <mi>k</mi> </mrow> <mrow> <mo>−</mo> <mi>n</mi> </mrow> </msup> </mrow> </math></EquationSource> </InlineEquation>, in the turbulence, separating the plasma into scales that are non-locally interacting, supersonic and weakly magnetized (<i>n</i> = 2.01 ± 0.03 ≈ 2) and locally interacting, subsonic and highly magnetized (<i>n</i> = 1.465 ± 0.002 ≈ 3/2), where <i>k</i> is the wavenumber. We show that the 3/2 spectrum can be explained with scale-dependent kinetic energy fluxes and velocity–magnetic field alignment. On the highly magnetized modes, the magnetic energy spectrum forms a local cascade (<i>n</i> = 1.798 ± 0.001 ≈ 9/5), deviating from any known ab initio theory. With a new generation of radio telescopes coming online, these results provide a means to directly test if the ISM in our Galaxy is maintained by the compressible turbulent motions from within it.</p>

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The spectrum of magnetized turbulence in the interstellar medium

  • James R. Beattie,
  • Christoph Federrath,
  • Ralf S. Klessen,
  • Salvatore Cielo,
  • Amitava Bhattacharjee

摘要

The interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy is magnetized, compressible and turbulent, influencing many key ISM properties, such as star formation, cosmic-ray transport, and metal and phase mixing. Yet, basic statistics describing compressible, magnetized turbulence remain uncertain. Utilizing grid resolutions up to 10,0803 cells, we simulated highly compressible, magnetized ISM-style turbulence with a magnetic field maintained by a small-scale dynamo. We measured two coexisting kinetic energy cascades, \({{\mathcal{E}}}_{{\rm{kin}}}(k)\propto {k}^{-n}\) E kin ( k ) k n , in the turbulence, separating the plasma into scales that are non-locally interacting, supersonic and weakly magnetized (n = 2.01 ± 0.03 ≈ 2) and locally interacting, subsonic and highly magnetized (n = 1.465 ± 0.002 ≈ 3/2), where k is the wavenumber. We show that the 3/2 spectrum can be explained with scale-dependent kinetic energy fluxes and velocity–magnetic field alignment. On the highly magnetized modes, the magnetic energy spectrum forms a local cascade (n = 1.798 ± 0.001 ≈ 9/5), deviating from any known ab initio theory. With a new generation of radio telescopes coming online, these results provide a means to directly test if the ISM in our Galaxy is maintained by the compressible turbulent motions from within it.