The Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and Viscosity
Turbulent radiative mixing layers (TRMLs) form at the interface of cold, dense gas and hot, diffuse gas in motion with each other. TRMLs are ubiquitous in and around galaxies on a variety of scales, including galactic winds and the circumgalactic medium. They host the intermediate-temperature gases...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acc73f |
| _version_ | 1797694610910216192 |
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| author | Zirui Chen Drummond B. Fielding Greg L. Bryan |
| author_facet | Zirui Chen Drummond B. Fielding Greg L. Bryan |
| author_sort | Zirui Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Turbulent radiative mixing layers (TRMLs) form at the interface of cold, dense gas and hot, diffuse gas in motion with each other. TRMLs are ubiquitous in and around galaxies on a variety of scales, including galactic winds and the circumgalactic medium. They host the intermediate-temperature gases that are efficient in radiative cooling, thus playing a crucial role in controlling the cold gas supply, phase structure, and spectral features of galaxies. In this work, we develop an intuitive analytic 1.5-dimensional model for TRMLs that includes a simple parameterization of the effective turbulent conductivity and viscosity and a piecewise power-law cooling curve. Our analytic model reproduces the mass flux, total cooling, and phase structure of 3D simulations of TRMLs at a fraction of the computational cost. It also reveals essential insights into the physics of TRMLs, particularly the importance of the viscous dissipation of relative kinetic energy in balancing radiative cooling as the shear Mach number approaches unity. This dissipation takes place both in the intermediate-temperature phase, which reduces the enthalpy flux from the hot phase, and in the cold phase, which enhances radiative cooling. Additionally, our model provides a fast and easy way of computing the column density and surface brightness of TRMLs, which can be directly linked to observations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:00:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f7cb3c1badd4e198c0e4174c56ba836 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:00:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f7cb3c1badd4e198c0e4174c56ba8362023-09-03T14:50:55ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0195029110.3847/1538-4357/acc73fThe Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and ViscosityZirui Chen0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8755-3836Drummond B. Fielding1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3806-8548Greg L. Bryan2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2630-9228Department of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA ; ziruichen@ucsb.edu; Department of Physics, University of California , Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USACenter for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USADepartment of Astronomy, Columbia University , 550 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA ; ziruichen@ucsb.edu; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USATurbulent radiative mixing layers (TRMLs) form at the interface of cold, dense gas and hot, diffuse gas in motion with each other. TRMLs are ubiquitous in and around galaxies on a variety of scales, including galactic winds and the circumgalactic medium. They host the intermediate-temperature gases that are efficient in radiative cooling, thus playing a crucial role in controlling the cold gas supply, phase structure, and spectral features of galaxies. In this work, we develop an intuitive analytic 1.5-dimensional model for TRMLs that includes a simple parameterization of the effective turbulent conductivity and viscosity and a piecewise power-law cooling curve. Our analytic model reproduces the mass flux, total cooling, and phase structure of 3D simulations of TRMLs at a fraction of the computational cost. It also reveals essential insights into the physics of TRMLs, particularly the importance of the viscous dissipation of relative kinetic energy in balancing radiative cooling as the shear Mach number approaches unity. This dissipation takes place both in the intermediate-temperature phase, which reduces the enthalpy flux from the hot phase, and in the cold phase, which enhances radiative cooling. Additionally, our model provides a fast and easy way of computing the column density and surface brightness of TRMLs, which can be directly linked to observations.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acc73fCircumgalactic mediumGalactic windsGalaxiesGalaxy evolutionGalaxy physicsGalactic and extragalactic astronomy |
| spellingShingle | Zirui Chen Drummond B. Fielding Greg L. Bryan The Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and Viscosity The Astrophysical Journal Circumgalactic medium Galactic winds Galaxies Galaxy evolution Galaxy physics Galactic and extragalactic astronomy |
| title | The Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and Viscosity |
| title_full | The Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and Viscosity |
| title_fullStr | The Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and Viscosity |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and Viscosity |
| title_short | The Anatomy of a Turbulent Radiative Mixing Layer: Insights from an Analytic Model with Turbulent Conduction and Viscosity |
| title_sort | anatomy of a turbulent radiative mixing layer insights from an analytic model with turbulent conduction and viscosity |
| topic | Circumgalactic medium Galactic winds Galaxies Galaxy evolution Galaxy physics Galactic and extragalactic astronomy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acc73f |
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