# Magnetic shuffling of coronal downdrafts

## TL;DR

This study investigates how magnetic field configurations influence the behavior of dense plasma downflows in the solar corona, revealing that misaligned flows are disrupted and mixed by magnetic shuffling, affecting various astrophysical phenomena.

## Contribution

It compares 3D MHD simulations of plasma blobs moving along magnetic flux tubes, highlighting the effects of alignment and magnetic field strength on flow structure and stability.

## Key findings

- Aligned blobs remain compact and generate shocks.
- Misaligned blobs are disrupted and form filaments.
- Chaotic magnetic shuffling enhances mixing of plasma fragments.

## Abstract

Channelled fragmented downflows are ubiquitous in magnetized atmospheres, and have been recently addressed from an observation after a solar eruption. We study the possible back-effect of the magnetic field on the propagation of confined flows. We compare two 3D MHD simulations of dense supersonic plasma blobs downfalling along a coronal magnetic flux tube. In one, the blobs move strictly along the field lines; in the other, the initial velocity of the blobs is not perfectly aligned to the magnetic field and the field is weaker. The aligned blobs remain compact while flowing along the tube, with the generated shocks. The misaligned blobs are disrupted and merged by the chaotic shuffling of the field lines, and structured into thinner filaments; Alfven wave fronts are generated together with shocks ahead of the dense moving front. Downflowing plasma fragments can be chaotically and efficiently mixed if their motion is misaligned to field lines, with broad implications, e.g., disk accretion in protostars, coronal eruptions and rain.