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Multifluid Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in weakly ionised astrophysical plasmas

Jones, Aoife Clare (2011) Multifluid Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in weakly ionised astrophysical plasmas. PhD thesis, Dublin City University.

Abstract
By expanding on the principles of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), we examine the dynamics of weakly ionised astrophysical plasma flows in a multifluid regime. This numerical study is carried out using the multifluid MHD code HYDRA. An outline of the structure of this code is given in chapter 2 and the schemes which are implemented integrates the MHD equations. We are interested in multifluid effects on fluid instabilities, in particular the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. The KH instability could, for example, play a role in the momentum transfer between the bowshock of a protostellar jet and its surrounding molecular cloud. In particular, changes to the development of the KH instability as a result of including the multlifluid effects of ambipolar diffusion and the Hall effect are isolated and individually studied in chapters 4 and 5 respectively. Finally, chapter 6 provides an in-depth examination of the respective roles these nonideal effects have in a multifluid astrophysical system in which both are expected to occur, such as a molecular cloud. Multifluid effects on protostellar jets are then examined in a broader context in chapter 7. As a jet propagates into a molecular cloud, it forms a bowshock of swept-up ambient material. As the molecular cloud material is weakly ionised, the bowshock is strongly susceptible to nonideal MHD effects below some characteristic length scale. Large-scale 3D simulations allow us to begin to understand the resulting dynamical differences in both the jet propagation and the structural evolution of the magnetic fields.
Metadata
Item Type:Thesis (PhD)
Date of Award:2011
Refereed:No
Supervisor(s):Downes, Turlough P.
Subjects:Physical Sciences > Astronomy > Astrophysics
Physical Sciences > Plasmas
Mathematics
DCU Faculties and Centres:Research Institutes and Centres > National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology (NCPST)
DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Mathematical Sciences
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. View License
Funders:HEA PRTLI III
ID Code:16069
Deposited On:06 Apr 2011 15:54 by Turlough Downes . Last Modified 19 Jul 2018 14:52
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