Enhanced dissipation rate of magnetic field in striped pulsar winds by the effect of turbulence

Abstract

In this paper, we report on turbulent acceleration of the dissipation of the magnetic field in the post-shock region of a Poynting flux-dominated flow, such as the Crab pulsar wind nebula. We have performed two-dimensional resistive relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations of subsonic turbulence driven by the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability at the shock fronts of the Poynting flux-dominated flows in pulsar winds. We find that turbulence stretches current sheets which substantially enhances the dissipation of the magnetic field, and that most of the initial magnetic field energy is dissipated within a few eddy-turnover times. We also develop a simple analytical model for turbulent dissipation of the magnetic field that agrees well with our simulations. The analytical model indicates that the dissipation rate does not depend on resistivity even in the small resistivity limit. Our findings can possibly alleviate the σ-problem in the Crab pulsar wind nebulae. © 2012 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.