Abstract
We present the 2-D, two fluid (ions + neutrals) numerical simulations that we are carrying out in order to study the ambipolar filamentation process, in which a magnetized, partially ionized plasma is stirred by turbulence in the ambipolar frequency range. The higher turbulent velocity of the neutrals in the most ionized regions gives rise to a non-linear force driving them out of these regions, and causes the ions and the magnetic flux to condense in the most ionized regions, resulting in a filamentary structure where initial ionization inhomogeneities are amplified. This mechanism might help to explain some features observed in magnetized and partially ionized astrophysical plasmas as the interstellar medium.
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Franqueira, M., Tagger, M. & de Castro, A.G. The Ambipolar Filamentation in the Warm Ionized Medium. Astrophysics and Space Science 292, 155–160 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ASTR.0000045012.41087.07
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ASTR.0000045012.41087.07