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Relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) provides an extremely useful description of the low-energy long-wavelength phenomena in a variety of physical systems from quark–gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions to matters in supernova, compact stars, and early universe. We review the recent theoretical progresses of RMHD, such as a formulation of RMHD from the perspective of magnetic flux conservation using the entropy–current analysis, the nonequilibrium statistical operator approach applied to quantum electrodynamics, and the relativistic kinetic theory. We discuss how the transport coefficients in RMHD are computed in kinetic theory and perturbative quantum field theories. We also explore the collective modes and instabilities in RMHD with a special emphasis on the role of chirality in a parity-odd plasma. We also give some future prospects of RMHD, including the interaction with spin hydrodynamics and the new kinetic framework with magnetic flux conservation.

In this review we will focus on a topic of fundamental importance for both astrophysics and plasma physics, namely the occurrence of large-amplitude low-frequency fluctuations of the fields that describe the plasma state. This subject will be treated within the context of the expanding solar wind and the most meaningful advances in this research field will be reported emphasizing the results obtained in the past decade or so. As a matter of fact, Helios inner heliosphere and Ulysses’ high latitude observations, recent multi-spacecrafts measurements in the solar wind (Cluster four satellites) and new numerical approaches to the problem, based on the dynamics of complex systems, brought new important insights which helped to better understand how turbulent fluctuations behave in the solar wind. In particular, numerical simulations within the realm of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence theory unraveled what kind of physical mechanisms are at the basis of turbulence generation and energy transfer across the spectral domain of the fluctuations. In other words, the advances reached in these past years in the investigation of solar wind turbulence now offer a rather complete picture of the phenomenological aspect of the problem to be tentatively presented in a rather organic way.

We develop a blow-up criterion in this paper for the strong solution of the three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows Dirichlet problem. The velocity field’s deformation tensor’s norm is the only factor influencing this blow-up criterion. Specifically, it is not affected by temperature or magnetic field. These findings also suggest that the strong solutions of compressible MHD flows maintain global regularity as long as the velocity tensor remains bounded.

The present study is related to the analytical investigation of the magnetohydrodynamic flow of Ag − MgO / water hybrid nanoliquid with slip conditions via an extending surface. The thermal radiation and Joule heating effects are incorporated within the existing hybrid nanofluid model. The system of higher-order partial differential equations is converted to the nonlinear system of ordinary differential equations by interpreting the similarity transformations. With the implementation of a strong analytical method called HAM, the solution of resulting higher-order ordinary differential equations is obtained. The results of the skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number, velocity profile, and temperature profile of the hybrid nanofluid for varying different flow parameters are attained in the form of graphs and tables. Some important outcomes showed that the Nusselt number and skin friction are increased with the enhancement in Eckert number, stretching parameter, heat generation parameter and radiation parameter for both slip and no-slip conditions. The thermal profile of the hybrid nanofluid is higher for suction effect but lower for Eckert number, stretching parameter, magnetic field, heat generation and radiation parameter. For both slip and no-slip conditions, the hybrid nanofluid velocity shows an upward trend for both the stretching and mixed convection parameters.

The prediction of a supersonic solar wind 1 was first confirmed by spacecraft near Earth 2 , 3 and later by spacecraft at heliocentric distances as small as 62 solar radii 4 . These missions showed that plasma accelerates as it emerges from the corona, aided by unidentified processes that transport energy outwards from the Sun before depositing it in the wind. Alfvénic fluctuations are a promising candidate for such a process because they are seen in the corona and solar wind and contain considerable energy 5 – 7 . Magnetic tension forces the corona to co-rotate with the Sun, but any residual rotation far from the Sun reported until now has been much smaller than the amplitude of waves and deflections from interacting wind streams 8 . Here we report observations of solar-wind plasma at heliocentric distances of about 35 solar radii 9 – 11 , well within the distance at which stream interactions become important. We find that Alfvén waves organize into structured velocity spikes with duration of up to minutes, which are associated with propagating S-like bends in the magnetic-field lines. We detect an increasing rotational component to the flow velocity of the solar wind around the Sun, peaking at 35 to 50 kilometres per second—considerably above the amplitude of the waves. These flows exceed classical velocity predictions of a few kilometres per second, challenging models of circulation in the corona and calling into question our understanding of how stars lose angular momentum and spin down as they age 12 – 14 . Data collected by the Parker Solar Probe in the solar corona are used to determine the organization of Alfvén waves, revealing an increasing flow velocity peaking at 35–50 km s −1 .

Kink oscillations of coronal loops, i.e., standing kink waves, is one of the most studied dynamic phenomena in the solar corona. The oscillations are excited by impulsive energy releases, such as low coronal eruptions. Typical periods of the oscillations are from a few to several minutes, and are found to increase linearly with the increase in the major radius of the oscillating loops. It clearly demonstrates that kink oscillations are natural modes of the loops, and can be described as standing fast magnetoacoustic waves with the wavelength determined by the length of the loop. Kink oscillations are observed in two different regimes. In the rapidly decaying regime, the apparent displacement amplitude reaches several minor radii of the loop. The damping time which is about several oscillation periods decreases with the increase in the oscillation amplitude, suggesting a nonlinear nature of the damping. In the decayless regime, the amplitudes are smaller than a minor radius, and the driver is still debated. The review summarises major findings obtained during the last decade, and covers both observational and theoretical results. Observational results include creation and analysis of comprehensive catalogues of the oscillation events, and detection of kink oscillations with imaging and spectral instruments in the EUV and microwave bands. Theoretical results include various approaches to modelling in terms of the magnetohydrodynamic wave theory. Properties of kink oscillations are found to depend on parameters of the oscillating loop, such as the magnetic twist, stratification, steady flows, temperature variations and so on, which make kink oscillations a natural probe of these parameters by the method of magnetohydrodynamic seismology.

The heating of the solar chromosphere and corona to the observed high temperatures, imply the presence of ongoing heating that balances the strong radiative and thermal conduction losses expected in the solar atmosphere. It has been theorized for decades that the required heating mechanisms of the chromospheric and coronal parts of the active regions, quiet-Sun, and coronal holes are associated with the solar magnetic fields. However, the exact physical process that transport and dissipate the magnetic energy which ultimately leads to the solar plasma heating are not yet fully understood. The current understanding of coronal heating relies on two main mechanism: reconnection and MHD waves that may have various degrees of importance in different coronal regions. In this review we focus on recent advances in our understanding of MHD wave heating mechanisms. First, we focus on giving an overview of observational results, where we show that different wave modes have been discovered in the corona in the last decade, many of which are associated with a significant energy flux, either generated in situ or pumped from the lower solar atmosphere. Afterwards, we summarise the recent findings of numerical modelling of waves, motivated by the observational results. Despite the advances, only 3D MHD models with Alfvén wave heating in an unstructured corona can explain the observed coronal temperatures compatible with the quiet Sun, while 3D MHD wave heating models including cross-field density structuring are not yet able to account for the heating of coronal loops in active regions to their observed temperature.

Magnetic reconnection is a multi-faceted process of energy conversion in astrophysical, space and laboratory plasmas that operates at microscopic scales but has macroscopic drivers and consequences. Solar flares present a key laboratory for its study, leaving imprints of the microscopic physics in radiation spectra and allowing the macroscopic evolution to be imaged, yet a full observational characterization remains elusive. Here we combine high resolution imaging and spectral observations of a confined solar flare at multiple wavelengths with data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic modeling to study the dynamics of the flare plasma from the current sheet to the plasmoid scale. The analysis suggests that the flare resulted from the interaction of a twisted magnetic flux rope surrounding a filament with nearby magnetic loops whose feet are anchored in chromospheric fibrils. Bright cusp-shaped structures represent the region around a reconnecting separator or quasi-separator (hyperbolic flux tube). The fast reconnection, which is relevant for other astrophysical environments, revealed plasmoids in the current sheet and separatrices and associated unresolved turbulent motions. Solar flares provide wide range of observational details about fundamental processes involved. Here, the authors show evidence for magnetic reconnection in a strong confined solar flare displaying all four reconnection flows with plasmoids in the current sheet and the separatrices.

Purpose This study aims to numerically examine the influence of various geometric parameters of a novel W-shaped porous cavity undergoing hybrid nanofluid-based magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection. The W-shaped cavity is modified from the classical trapezoidal cavity by constructing a triangular shape at its bottom. This cavity is isothermally active at the bottom, with different numbers and heights of the triangular peak (or undulation). The heated hybrid nanofluid (Cu–Al2O3–H2O) flow is cooled through the translating top wall. Inclined sidewalls are thermally insulated. To compare the impacts of change in geometric parameters, a square cavity under similar boundary conditions is also simulated. This study is carried out systematically addressing the various influences from a range of parameters like side angles (γ), number (m) and height (λ) of the bottom undulation, Reynolds number (Re), Richardson number (Ri), Darcy number (Da), Hartmann number (Ha), hybrid nanoparticles volume fraction (φ) on the overall thermal performance of the cavity. Design/methodology/approach Applying the finite volume approach, the transport equations involving multiphysical conditions like porous substance, hybrid nanofluid, magnetic field and shearing force are solved numerically by using a written FORTRAN-based code following the SIMPLE algorithm. The algebraic equations are solved over all the control volumes in an iterative process using the alternate direction implicit scheme and the tri-diagonal matrix algorithm. The converged solution of the iterative process is obtained when the relative error levels satisfy the convergence criterion of 10–8 and 10–10 for the maximum residuals and the mass defect, respectively. Findings It is revealed that an increase in the bottom undulation height always improves the thermal energy transfer despite the reduction of fluid volume. Thermal energy transfer significantly depends on the heating and cooling surface lengths, fluid volume in the cavity and the magnitude of the bottom undulation height of the W-shaped cavity. With the increase in bottom undulation height, effective heating length increases by ∼28%, which leads to a ∼15% reduction in the effective volume of the working fluid and a gain in heat transfer by ∼56.48%. In general, the overall thermal energy transport is improved by increasing Re, Ri and Da; whereas it is suppressed by increasing Ha. Research limitations/implications There are many opportunities for future research experimentally or numerically, considering different curvature effects, orientations of the geometry, working fluids, boundary conditions, etc. Furthermore, this study could be extended by considering unsteady flow or turbulent flow. Practical implications In many modern systems/processes pertaining to materials processing, continuous casting, food processing, chemical reactors, biomedical applications, etc. fine control in the transport process is a major concern. The findings of this analysis can effectively be useful for other applications for getting more control features in terms of achieving the operational objectives. The approach of the system analysis (considering geometrical size parameters to delve into the underlying transport physics) and the obtained simulated results presented in the work can usefully be applicable to similar thermal systems/devices such as materials processing, thermal mixing, chemical reactors, heat exchangers, etc. Originality/value From the well-documented and vast pool of literature survey, it is understood that there exists no such investigation on the considered geometry and study. This study contributes a lot to understanding magnetic field moderated thermofluid flow of a hybrid nanofluid in a porous medium filled W-shaped cavity, in consideration of different geometrical shape parameters (undulation peak numbers at bottom wall, peak heights, side angles and heating and cooling length). Findings brought by this study provide great insights into the design and operation under various ranges of multiphysical thermofluid-flow processing phenomena.

In this work, we describe a new flux splitting method for an ideal MHD in the 3D curvilinear coordinate system. The method is designed to create a dissipation term by zero flux term of flux split and create a new central difference scheme for ideal MHD. Numerical tests are performed to demonstrate the accuracy and capability of the new scheme to capture complex waves of ideal MHD.