Decaying MHD turbulence: implications for primordial magnetic fields

by Dr Chandranathan Ananadvijayan (TIFR-ICTS, Bengaluru)

Tuesday 12 Aug 2025, 14:30 → 15:30 Asia/Kolkata

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Turbulent magnetic fields are present in various astrophysical systems, from planets to galaxy clusters. Inferences from TeV blazar observations suggest the presence of magnetic fields even in cosmic voids, hinting at a primordial origin. Magnetically dominated decaying MHD turbulence plays a crucial role in understanding such systems, in particular primordial magnetic fields (PMF). In this talk, I will present our recent work, building on earlier studies, showing that magnetic reconnection dictates the decay timescale of such systems. The observed similarity of decay laws in 2D (2.5D) and 3D direct numerical simulations suggests that 3D systems are quasi-two-dimensional—a picture we confirm using Minkowski Functional analysis. I will then present a short survey of the impact of PMF on recombination and outline our recent interests in this direction.