Revolutionary simulation reveals secrets of magnetized turbulence

Revolutionary simulation reveals secrets of magnetized turbulence

International researchers have used a groundbreaking simulation to investigate the dynamics of magnetized turbulence in space. This new study not only represents a significant advance in astrophysical research, but also provides deeper insights into the evolution of galaxies and the conditions for star formation.

The simulation, which was carried out on the SuperMUC-NG supercomputer at the Leibniz Supercomputing Center in Garching near Munich, is considered the most extensive of its kind. It required over 80 million CPU hours and was executed on 140,000 computing cores. SuperMUC-NG is one of Europe's most powerful supercomputers and has 6,480 computing nodes, each of which has 48 cores.

The role of turbulence

Turbulence in space occurs in plasma, a hot, electrically charged gas. This turbulence is strongly influenced by magnetic fields, which poses new challenges for classical turbulence theory. The researchers found that fundamental principles of this theory do not apply in the context of magnetized plasmas. In particular, the turbulent cascade, where energy is transferred from larger to smaller scales, shows significant deviations from traditional models.

In their model, the team considers the transition between supersonic and subsonic turbulence, a crucial process for astrophysical plasmas. The simulation identifies in detail how magnetic fields influence the cascading of energy in the interstellar medium by suppressing small-scale motion and amplifying wave-like disturbances. These findings are crucial for the theoretical models of star formation.

Important results

The results of the simulation show that two different scale-dependent cascades exist in the interstellar medium. Below the speed of sound, magnetic fields dominate the movements, while alternatively supersonic flows are determined by kinetic energy. These discoveries have far-reaching implications for our understanding of the transport of high-energy particles between stars and the structure of the galaxy.

A central parameter in the calculations was the Reynolds number, which describes the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces. Reynolds numbers in excess of one million were used for the simulation, helping to realize the exceptional accuracy of the results. It is expected that this work will not only deepen the understanding of the turbulent processes in the Universe, but also have a positive impact on direct applications in the Sun-Earth system and broad areas of astrophysics.

The research results were recently published in the journal Nature Astronomy, underlining the relevance and innovative nature of this scientific investigation. The study shows how important it is to better understand the complex interactions in the interstellar medium in order to comprehensively explain the evolution and structure of galaxies.

The results and methodology of the study can be further discussed and are available in detail in the publication on the Heidelberg University website and on scinexx.de. These developments could significantly influence the next generation of astrophysical research and open up new avenues in the study of the universe.

For more information, see reports from the University of Heidelberg, scinexx and in the publication in Nature Astronomy.