Simulations of a Conducting Sphere Moving through Magnetized Plasma II: Effect of Internal Magnetic Fields and Enhancement of Alfvénic Drag
Abstract
Magnetic interaction between astrophysical objects can play an important role and produce electromagnetic radiation in various systems, ranging from planet-moon and star-planet systems to binary compact objects. We extend our previous numerical study of an ideal magnetized plasma flowing past a conducting sphere to the case where the sphere is magnetized. Such a flow generates magnetic disturbances and produces a drag force on the sphere. We examine the drag coefficient as a function of the strength and orientation of the conductor's internal magnetic field relative to the background magnetic field. We find that a strong internal magnetic field that is aligned with the background field significantly enhances the drag coefficient compared to the unmagnetized case; this enhancement is related to the increased magnetic flux that connects the conductor and the open, external field region. We also explore how the drag coefficient changes as the flow transitions from the sub-Alfvénic to the super-Alfvénic regime. Our results suggest that magnetic interaction may play a larger role in orbital evolution of some binary systems than previously expected.
Related
- Radiative Efficiency Enhancement by Electromagnetic Energy Dissipation in Strongly Magnetized Supercritical Accretion Flows around Kerr Black Holes
- Irreducible-Mass Balance for Magnetized Null Horizons with an Internal Current Sheet
- Radiation Magneto-hydrodynamic Simulations of MRI with Zero-Net-Vertical-Flux: Necessity of Resolving the Thermal Scale For Strongly Magnetized Initial Conditions
- Charged fluid tori with an approximate magnetic self-field around magnetized Schwarzschild black holes: A semi-analytic approach
- Magnetized accretion onto rapidly spinning binary black holes: mini-disk thermodynamics, magnetic transport, and dual jets
BibTeX
@misc{corso2026simulations,
title = {{Simulations of a Conducting Sphere Moving through Magnetized Plasma II: Effect of Internal Magnetic Fields and Enhancement of Alfvénic Drag}},
author = {Nicholas Corso and Dong Lai},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.30506},
eprint = {2610.30506},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30506},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Simulations of a Conducting Sphere Moving through Magnetized Plasma II: Effect of Internal Magnetic Fields and Enhancement of Alfvénic Drag
AU - Nicholas Corso
AU - Dong Lai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.30506
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30506
AB - Magnetic interaction between astrophysical objects can play an important role and produce electromagnetic radiation in various systems, ranging from planet-moon and star-planet systems to binary compact objects. We extend our previous numerical study of an ideal magnetized plasma flowing past a conducting sphere to the case where the sphere is magnetized. Such a flow generates magnetic disturbances and produces a drag force on the sphere. We examine the drag coefficient as a function of the strength and orientation of the conductor's internal magnetic field relative to the background magnetic field. We find that a strong internal magnetic field that is aligned with the background field significantly enhances the drag coefficient compared to the unmagnetized case; this enhancement is related to the increased magnetic flux that connects the conductor and the open, external field region. We also explore how the drag coefficient changes as the flow transitions from the sub-Alfvénic to the super-Alfvénic regime. Our results suggest that magnetic interaction may play a larger role in orbital evolution of some binary systems than previously expected.
ER -