Local Relaxation and Scale-Dependent Alignment in Compressible, Magnetized Turbulence

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 2, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
06:42

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability

Published on: March 3, 2017

James R Beattie1, Amitava Bhattacharjee2

  • 1University of Toronto, Princeton University, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA; Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, M5S3H8, Ontario, Canada; and School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|October 31, 2026
PubMed

Related Concept Videos

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes01:23

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

In the absence of an external magnetic field, nuclear spin states are degenerate and randomly oriented. When a magnetic field is applied, the spins begin to precess and orient themselves along (lower energy) or against (higher energy) the direction of the field. At equilibrium, a slight excess population of spins exists in the lower energy state. Because the direction of the magnetic field is fixed as the z-axis,  the precessing magnetic moments are randomly oriented around the z-axis. This...
Divergence and Curl of Magnetic Field01:26

Divergence and Curl of Magnetic Field

The magnetic field due to a volume current distribution given by the Biot–Savart Law can be expressed as follows:
Atomic Nuclei: Types of Nuclear Relaxation01:28

Atomic Nuclei: Types of Nuclear Relaxation

Nuclear relaxation restores the equilibrium population imbalance and can occur via spin–lattice or spin–spin mechanisms, which are first-order exponential decay processes.
In spin–lattice or longitudinal relaxation, the excited spins exchange energy with the surrounding lattice as they return to the lower energy level. Among several mechanisms that contribute to spin–lattice relaxation, magnetic dipolar interactions are significant. Here, the excited nucleus transfers energy to a nearby...
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions01:28

Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions

An electric field suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge. Similarly, a magnetic field is discontinuous at a surface current. The perpendicular component of a magnetic field is continuous across the interface of two magnetic mediums. In contrast, its parallel component, perpendicular to the current, is discontinuous by the amount equal to the product of the vacuum permeability and the surface current. Like the scalar potential in electrostatics, the vector potential is also continuous...
Potential Due to a Magnetized Object01:24

Potential Due to a Magnetized Object

Magnetic dipoles in magnetic materials are aligned when placed under an external magnetic field. For paramagnets and ferromagnets, dipole alignment occurs in the direction of the magnetic field. However, the dipoles align opposite to the field in the case of diamagnets. This state of magnetic polarization due to the external field is called magnetization. Magnetization is defined as the dipole moment per unit volume. It plays a similar role to polarization in electrostatics.
The vector...
Navier–Stokes Equations01:28

Navier–Stokes Equations

For incompressible Newtonian fluids, where density remains constant, stresses show a linear relationship with the deformation rate, defined by normal and shear stresses. Normal stresses depend on the pressure exerted on the fluid and the rate of deformation in specific directions, which determines how fluid flows under varying pressures. Shear stresses, on the other hand, act tangentially across fluid layers. They explain how adjacent fluid layers slide relative to one another, connecting...