• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.275-279
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• 2001

The study of incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence gives useful insights on many astrophysical problems. We describe a pseudo-spectral MHD code suitable for the study of incompressible turbulence. We review our recent' works on direct three-dimensional numerical simulations for MHD turbulence in a periodic box. In those works, we use a pseudo-spectral code to solve the incompressible MHD equations. We first discuss the structure and properties of turbulence as functions of scale. The results are consistent with the scaling law recently proposed by Goldreich & Sridhar. The scaling law is based on the concept of scale-dependent isotropy: smaller eddies are more elongated than larger ones along magnetic field lines. This scaling law substantially changes our views on MHD turbulence. For example, as noted by Lazarian & Vishniac, the scaling law can provide a fast reconnection rate. We further discuss how the study of incompressible MHD turbulence can help us to understand physical processes in interstellar medium (ISM) by considering imbalanced cascade and viscous damped turbulence.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.107.1-107.1
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• 2011

Density Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) are a classic statistical way to study properties of Interstellar Medium (ISM) turbulence. In our three-dimensional MHD simulations, density PDFs of the position-position velocity (PPV) spaces are close to a log-normal distribution. the PDF widths depend on the plasma parameters such as magnetic strength and sonic Mach number. Futhermore, we compare these simulations results to Galactic molecular clouds observed by Jackson et. al (2006). By fitting of the velocity dispersion in the spectral line observation, volume density PDFs of the defined molecular clouds indicate that the sound speeds of the turbulences seem to have a few times larger than the simulation results. In order to understand the inconsistency with general characteristics of turbulence, we consider other simulations inducing the turbulent flow randomly at small driving scales. We find that the density PDF width decreases at more smaller driving scale. Finally, the simulations suggest that sources of ISM turbulence in Galactic molecular clouds can be important on small scales.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.108.1-108.1
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• 2011

Turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical fluids such as the interstellar medium(ISM) and the intracluster medium(ICM). There are many driving mechanisms which can inject energy into the fluid in variety driving scales, But the plausible driving scale of ISM/ICM turbulence are yet unknown. Therefore, understanding different statistical properties between turbulence with single driving scale and turbulence with double driving scale is required. In this work, we performed 3-dimensional isothermal compressible, magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) turbulence simulations. We drive turbulence in the Fourier space in two ranges, 2

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.171-177
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• 2007

In external galaxies, the velocity dispersion of the atomic hydrogen gas shows a remarkably flat distribution with the galactocentric radius. This has been a long-standing puzzle because if the gas velocity dispersion is due to turbulence caused by supernova explosions, it should decline with radius. After a discussion on the role of spiral arms and ram pressure in driving interstellar turbulence in the outer parts of galactic disks, we argue that the constant bombardment by tiny high-velocity halo clouds can be a significant source of random motions in the outer disk gas. Recent observations of the flaring of H I in the Galaxy are difficult to explain if the dark halo is nearly spherical as the survival of the streams of tidal debris of Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy suggests. The radial enhancement of the gas velocity dispersion (at R > 25 kpc) due to accretion of cloudy gas might naturally explain the observed flaring in the Milky Way. Other motivations and implications of this scenario have been highlighted.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.47.2-47.2
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• 2019

Observations indicate that turbulence in molecular clouds of the interstellar medium (ISM) is highly supersonic (M >> 1) and strongly magnetized (β ≈ 0.1), while in the intracluster medium (ICM) it is subsonic (M <~1) and weakly magnetized (β ≈ 100). Here, M is the turbulent Mach number and β is the ratio of the gas to magnetic pressures. Although magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in such environments has been previously studied through numerical simulations, some of its properties as well as its consequences are not yet fully described. In this talk, we report a study of MHD turbulence in molecular clouds and the ICM using a newly developed code based the high-order accurate, WENO (Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory) scheme. The simulation results using the WENO code are generally in agreement with those presented in the previous studies with, for instance, a TVD code (Porter et al. 2015 &, Park & Ryu 2019), but reveal more detailed structures on small scales. We here present and compare the properties of simulated turbulences with WENO and TVD codes, such as the spatial distribution of density, the density probability distribution functions, and the power spectra of kinetic and magnetic energies. We also describe the populations of MHD shocks and the energy dissipation at the shocks. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study on star formation processes in the ISM and shock dissipation in the ICM.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.33.1-33.1
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• 2018

Ram pressure stripping by intracluster medium (ICM) can play a crucial role in galaxy evolution in the high-density environment as seen by many examples of cluster galaxies. Although much progress has been made by direct numerical simulations of galaxies (or a galaxy) as a whole in a cluster environment, the interstellar medium (ISM) in galactic disks is not well resolved to understand responses of the ISM in details. In order to overcome this, we utilize the TIGRESS simulation suite that focuses on a local region of galactic disks and resolves key physical processes in the ISM with uniformly high resolution. In this talk, we present the results from the solar neighborhood TIGRESS model facing the ICM winds with a range of ram pressures. When ram pressure is weaker than and comparable to the ISM weight, the ICM winds simply reshape the ISM to the one-sided disk, but star formation rates remain unchanged. Although there exist low-density channels in the multiphase ISM that allow the ICM winds to penetrate through, the ISM turbulence quickly closes the channels and prevents efficient stripping. When ram pressure is stronger than the ISM weight, a significant amount of the ISM can be stripped away rapidly, and star formation is quickly quenched. While the low-density gas is stripped rapidly, star formation still occurs in the extraplanar dense ISM (1-2kpc away from the stellar disk). Finally, we quantify the momentum transfer from the ICM to the ISM using the mass-and momentum-weighted velocity distribution functions of each gas phase.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.47.1-47.1
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• 2013

Supersonic turbulence is believed to decay rapidly within a flow crossing time irrespective of the degree of magnetization. However, this consensus of decaying magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence relies on local isothermal simulations, which are unable to investigate the role of global magnetic fields and structures. Utilizing three-dimensional MHD simulations including interstellar cooling and heating, we investigate decaying MHD turbulence within cold neutral medium sheets embedded in warm neutral medium. Early evolution is consistent with previous studies characterized rapid decay of turbulence with the decaying time shorter than a flow crossing time and power-law temporal decay of turbulent kinetic energy with slope of -1. If initial magnetic fields are strong and perpendicular to the sheet, however long term evolutions of kinetic energy shows that a significant amount of turbulent energy still remains even after ten flow crossing times, and decaying rate is reduced as field strengths increase. We analyse power spectra of remaining turbulence to show that incompressible, in-plane motions dominate.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.333-335
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• 2001

We study the properties of supernova (SN) driven interstellar turbulence with a numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. Calculations were done using the RIEMANN framework for MHD, which is highly suited for astrophysical flows because it tracks shocks using a Riemann solver and ensures pressure positivity and a divergence-free magnetic field. We start our simulations with a uniform density threaded by a uniform magnetic field. A simplified radiative cooling curve and a constant heating rate are also included. In this radiatively-cooling magnetized medium, we explode SNe one at a time at randomly chosen positions with SN explosion rates equal to and 12 times higher than the Galactic value. The evolution of the system is basically determined by the input energy of SN explosions and the output energy of radiative cooling. We follow the simulations to the point where the total energy of the system, as well as thermal, kinetic, and magnetic energy individually, has reached a quasi-stationary value. From the numerical experiments, we find that: i) both thermal and dynamical processes are important in determining the phases of the interstellar medium, and ii) the power index n of the $B-p^n$ relation is consistent with observed values.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.563-570
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• 2004

Turbulence is a crucial component of dynamics of astrophysical fluids dynamics, including those of ISM, clusters of galaxies and circumstellar regions. Doppler shifted spectral lines provide a unique source of information on turbulent velocities. We discuss Velocity-Channel Analysis (VCA) and its offspring Velocity Coordinate Spectrum (VCS) that are based on the analytical description of the spectral line statistics. Those techniques are well suited for studies of supersonic turbulence. We stress that a great advantage of VCS is that it does not necessary require good spatial resolution. Addressing the studies of mildly supersonic and subsonic turbulence we discuss the criterion that allows to determine whether Velocity Centroids are dominated by density or velocity. We briefly discuss ways of going beyond power spectra by using of higher order correlations as well as genus analysis. We outline the relation between Spectral Correlation Functions and the statistics available through VCA and VCS.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.279-282
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• 2005

We report the millimeter-wave radio observations of molecular cloud cores in Taurus. The observed line is the $N_2H^+$ emission at 93 GHz, which is known to be less affected by molecular depletion. We have compared starless (IRAS-less) cores with star-forming cores. We found that there is no large difference between starless and star-forming cores, in core radius, linewidth, core mass, and radial intensity profile. Our result is in contrast with the result obtained by using a popular molecular line, in which starless cores are larger and less condensed. We suggest that different results mainly come from whether the employed molecular line is affected by depletion or not. We made a virial analysis, and found that both starless and star-forming cores are not far from the critical equilibrium state, in Taurus. Together with the fact that Taurus cores are almost thermally supported, we conclude that starless Taurus cores evolve to star formation without dissipating turbulence. The critical equilibrium state in the virial analysis corresponds to the critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere in the Bonnor-Ebert analysis (Nakano 1998). It is suggested that the initial condition of the molecular cloud cores/globules for star formation is close to the critical equilibrium state/critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere, in the low-mass star forming region.