Magnetic knot cascade via the stepwise reconnection of helical flux tubes

• Published in: Journal of fluid mechanics Vol. 912
• Main Authors: Hao, Jinhua, Yang, Yue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 18.02.2021
• Subjects: Chirality; Evolution; Fluctuations; JFM Papers; Kinetic energy; Knots; Lorentz force; Magnetic field; Magnetic fields; Magnetic flux; Probability density functions; Probability theory; Simulation; Tertiary; Tubes; Vortices; topological fluid dynamics; plasmas

We report a knot cascade of magnetic field lines through the stepwise reconnection of a pair of orthogonal helical flux tubes with opposite chirality. The magnetic-surface field is developed to identify the evolution of flux tubes and pinpoint the reconnection region. We find that the incipient X-ty...