Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and turbulent dynamo in a partially ionized plasma

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent theoretical advances in understanding magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and turbulent dynamo processes in partially ionized astrophysical plasmas, highlighting their implications for key cosmic phenomena.

Contribution

It connects recent MHD turbulence theories with turbulent dynamo mechanisms in partially ionized gases, advancing astrophysical plasma understanding.

Findings

Enhanced understanding of MHD turbulence damping processes

Insights into magnetic field amplification mechanisms

Implications for cosmic ray scattering and magnetic reconnection

Abstract

Astrophysical fluids are turbulent, magnetized and frequently partially ionized. As an example of astrophysical turbulence, the interstellar turbulence extends over a remarkably large range of spatial scales and participates in key astrophysical processes happening in different ranges of scales. A significant progress has been achieved in the understanding of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence since the turn of the century, and this enables us to better describe turbulence in magnetized and partially ionized plasmas. In fact, the modern revolutionized picture of the MHD turbulence physics facilitates the development of various theoretical domains, including the damping process for dissipating MHD turbulence and the dynamo process for generating MHD turbulence with many important astrophysical implications. In this paper, we review some important findings from our recent theoretical works to demonstrate the interconnection between the properties of MHD turbulence and those of turbulent dynamo in a partially ionized gas. We also briefly exemplify some new tentative studies on how the revised basic processes influence the associated outstanding astrophysical problems in, such as, magnetic reconnection, cosmic ray scattering, magnetic field amplification in both the early and the present-day universe.