SH54A-01:
Quantifying Turbulence

Friday, 19 December 2014: 4:00 PM
Homayoun Karimabadi, CureMetrix, Rancho Santa Fe, CA, United States; SciberQuest, Del Mar, CA, United States, Vadim Roytershteyn, SciberQuest, Inc, Atlanta, GA, United States; Space Science Institute Los Alamos, Los Alamos, NM, United States, Jack D Scudder, Univ of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States and William S Daughton, MS-F699, Plasma Theory and App, Los Alamos, NM, United States
Abstract:
Recent studies have revealed deep relationships between the three fundamental processes of turbulence, magnetic reconnection, and shocks in collisionless plasmas. The quantitative characterization of the structure of the turbulence and the underlying dissipation mechanism(s) in these processes remains a challenge. For example, the role of magnetic reconnection has been emphasized as a possibly generic feature of turbulence. How does one identify reconnecting current sheets in 3D? How does one show whether the electrons and ions are nonadiabatic? How does one distinguish and assess the relative role of competing dissipative processes? In this talk, we report on our latest results on addressing these issues. We compare and contrast the utility of new physically motivated diagnostics versus statistical techniques.