Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar Chromosphere

Models currently fail to reproduce observations of the coldest regions in the Sun’s atmosphere, though recent work suggests the thermal Farley–Buneman instability (TFBI) may play a critical role. This meter-scale, electrostatic, multifluid plasma instability causes turbulence and heating in the cold...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Samuel Evans, Meers Oppenheim, Juan Martínez-Sykora, Yakov Dimant
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd70
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849735210930798592
author Samuel Evans
Meers Oppenheim
Juan Martínez-Sykora
Yakov Dimant
author_facet Samuel Evans
Meers Oppenheim
Juan Martínez-Sykora
Yakov Dimant
author_sort Samuel Evans
collection DOAJ
description Models currently fail to reproduce observations of the coldest regions in the Sun’s atmosphere, though recent work suggests the thermal Farley–Buneman instability (TFBI) may play a critical role. This meter-scale, electrostatic, multifluid plasma instability causes turbulence and heating in the coldest regions of the solar chromosphere. This paper describes how TFBI turbulence and heating varies across multifluid 2D, kinetic 2D, and kinetic 3D simulations. It also presents the first 3D simulations of the TFBI. We find that multifluid and kinetic 2D simulations produce similar results overall, despite using vastly different approaches. Additionally, our kinetic 3D simulations produce a similar or somewhat larger amount of heating compared to 2D, as contributions from the parallel electric field account for only (13 ± 2.5)% of the total turbulent heating in 3D.
format Article
id doaj-art-151a86457a654d5282cbd1ba3d4d1d1c
institution DOAJ
issn 1538-4357
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IOP Publishing
record_format Article
series The Astrophysical Journal
spelling doaj-art-151a86457a654d5282cbd1ba3d4d1d1c2025-08-20T03:07:37ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198612310.3847/1538-4357/adcd70Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar ChromosphereSamuel Evans0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1127-7350Meers Oppenheim1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8581-6177Juan Martínez-Sykora2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0333-5717Yakov Dimant3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3807-5820Boston University Center for Space Physics , 725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; sevans7@bu.eduBoston University Center for Space Physics , 725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; sevans7@bu.eduLockheed Martin Solar & Astrophysics Laboratory , 3251 Hanover St, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA; Bay Area Environmental Research Institute , NASA Research Park, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA; Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics, University of Oslo , P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, N-0315 Oslo, Norway; Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo , P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, N-0315 Oslo, NorwayBoston University Center for Space Physics , 725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA ; sevans7@bu.eduModels currently fail to reproduce observations of the coldest regions in the Sun’s atmosphere, though recent work suggests the thermal Farley–Buneman instability (TFBI) may play a critical role. This meter-scale, electrostatic, multifluid plasma instability causes turbulence and heating in the coldest regions of the solar chromosphere. This paper describes how TFBI turbulence and heating varies across multifluid 2D, kinetic 2D, and kinetic 3D simulations. It also presents the first 3D simulations of the TFBI. We find that multifluid and kinetic 2D simulations produce similar results overall, despite using vastly different approaches. Additionally, our kinetic 3D simulations produce a similar or somewhat larger amount of heating compared to 2D, as contributions from the parallel electric field account for only (13 ± 2.5)% of the total turbulent heating in 3D.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd70Solar chromosphereSolar chromospheric heatingPlasma physicsAstronomical simulations
spellingShingle Samuel Evans
Meers Oppenheim
Juan Martínez-Sykora
Yakov Dimant
Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar Chromosphere
The Astrophysical Journal
Solar chromosphere
Solar chromospheric heating
Plasma physics
Astronomical simulations
title Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar Chromosphere
title_full Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar Chromosphere
title_fullStr Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar Chromosphere
title_full_unstemmed Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar Chromosphere
title_short Multifluid and Kinetic 2D and 3D Simulations of Thermal Farley–Buneman Instability Turbulence in the Solar Chromosphere
title_sort multifluid and kinetic 2d and 3d simulations of thermal farley buneman instability turbulence in the solar chromosphere
topic Solar chromosphere
Solar chromospheric heating
Plasma physics
Astronomical simulations
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adcd70
work_keys_str_mv AT samuelevans multifluidandkinetic2dand3dsimulationsofthermalfarleybunemaninstabilityturbulenceinthesolarchromosphere
AT meersoppenheim multifluidandkinetic2dand3dsimulationsofthermalfarleybunemaninstabilityturbulenceinthesolarchromosphere
AT juanmartinezsykora multifluidandkinetic2dand3dsimulationsofthermalfarleybunemaninstabilityturbulenceinthesolarchromosphere
AT yakovdimant multifluidandkinetic2dand3dsimulationsofthermalfarleybunemaninstabilityturbulenceinthesolarchromosphere