Formation of Fine Structures in Incompressible Hall Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence Simulations

Abstract

Hall magnetohydrodynamic simulations are often carried out to study the subjects of instabilities and turbulence of space and nuclear fusion plasmas in which sub-ion-scale effects are important. Hall effects on a structure formation at a small scale in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence are reviewed together with a simple comparison to a (non-Hall) MHD turbulence simulation. A comparison between MHD and Hall MHD simulations highlights a fine structure in Hall MHD turbulence. This enhancement of the fine structures by the Hall term can be understood in relation to the whistler waves at the sub-ion scale. The generation and enhancement of fine-scale sheet, filamentary, or tubular structures do not necessarily contradict one another.