Stabilizing effect of magnetic helicity on magnetic cavities in the intergalactic medium
Collisionless Dynamics
Simon
Candelaresi
Date Submitted
2021-04-14 00:00:00
University of Glasgow
Fabio Del Sordo (INAF Astrophysical Observatory of Catania)
We investigate the effect of magnetic helicity for the stability of buoyant magnetic cavities as found in the intergalactic medium. In these cavities we insert helical magnetic fields and test whether or not helicity can increase their stability to shredding through the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and with that their life time. This is compared to the case of an external magnetic field which is known to reduce the growth rate of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. By comparing a low and high helicity configuration with the same magnetic energy we find that an internal helical magnetic field stabilizes the cavity. This effect increases as we increase the helicity content. Stabilizing the cavity with an external magnetic field requires a significantly stronger field.
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