CharlesChandler wrote:The image definitely makes it look like the B-field is aligned to the axis of the filament, but it's a 2D image, and the polarity isn't designated. Anyway, if the perpendicular is perpendicular, then it's parallel? (If that's what it's saying, and if there were only two dimensions to worry about, that would be true.)Brenda C. Matthews and Christine D. Wilson wrote:These data indicate that B⊥ is perpendicular to the filament along most of its length, diverging only in the most southern regions by between 30° and 50°.
Anyway, let's just suppose that the B-field is parallel to the filament. (If so, that would match the B-fields in spiral arms.) The only way to get this is with electric charges that are rotating around the filament axis. I'm thinking that these filaments are dusty plasmas that got stretched somehow, where the tensile force from the "like-likes-like" principle drew the plasma into filaments, thereby creating a convergent motion toward the axis of the filaments. Once the plasma got moving, any external magnetic field would exert a Lorentz force that would induce a spiral around the axis, and generating a solenoidal magnetic field in agreement with the external field, and accentuating it. This more powerful field then organizes the rest of the particle motions into rotation around the axis as they converge on it. This is consistent with the fact that our solar system, and all known planetary nebulae, rotate on an axis that is aligned beyond chance to the external magnetic field running parallel to the parent filament.
If the filaments had electric currents running through them, the magnetic fields would not be aligned to the axis. Rather, they would rotate around the axis.
Brant's Comments on Galactic Filaments
© Lloyd
by upriver » Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:20 pm
Brant: And this is what is observed in the local filaments that CLUSTER studies. They have a force free core wrapped by a current layer that moves in a helical direction, with a magnetic field I believe at ~90 degrees wrapping the whole thing. And the system is dynamic. When you take [?] the picture changes what you see, especially when a "reconnection" is involved...
Yep... Heres what I said in 2008. And I think I said it before that while talking about flux tubes on the BAUT forum..or was it JREF...
"I generally thin[k] of it (them) as an electric current that takes the form of a flux tube following the right hand rule. Even then I still have suspicion that the energy is really carried in the field in the form of "kinetic energy" and the electrons are along for the ride.
The actual instantaneous form of the flux tube initially is that of a force free core wrapped by a current flow that follows the right hand rule and is helical. The core takes up about 40% of the flux tube. This is the form reported back by CLUSTER. I put the dynamics together with the other form reported back.
When the current flow reaches a certain point a pinch happens, several pinches can happen in one filament. This produces sections of filament when you have the aforementioned form. This outer magnetic field collapses driving a current into the force free core producing a reformed force free filament which CLUSTER also detects.
Interestingly enough the filaments in the magnetotail take the form of the twin twisted filament whereas the one connecting the sun and earth has a single filament with layers.."
