Reconnexion of vortex and magnetic tubes subject to an imposed strain: An approach by perturbation expansion

Y. Hattori, H. K. Moffatt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The viscous interaction of two weakly curved and oppositely directed vortex tubes of flattened cross-section driven together by an imposed uniform strain is considered using a perturbation technique. The evolution of the cross-sectional vorticity distribution is computed, and the rate of reconnexion, as indicated by the decrease of circulation of each tube at the plane of symmetry, is obtained for various values of the Reynolds number and of the (small) aspect ratio of the tubes. Attention is focused particularly on the nonlinear effect of convection by the velocity field induced by the vortices. A similar technique is applied to the problem of reconnexion of magnetic flux tubes, for which the nonlinear effect is different, being that associated with the Lorentz force distribution.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)333-356
Number of pages24
JournalFluid Dynamics Research
Volume36
Issue number4-6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005 Apr

Keywords

  • Magnetic reconnexion
  • Perturbation expansion
  • Uniform strain field
  • Vortex reconnexion

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