As a Matter of Force—Systematic Biases in Idealized Turbulence Simulations

Many astrophysical systems encompass very large dynamical ranges in space and time, which are not accessible by direct numerical simulations. Thus, idealized subvolumes are often used to study small-scale effects including the dynamics of turbulence. These turbulent boxes require an artificial driving in order to mimic energy injection from large-scale processes. In this Letter, we show and quantify how the autocorrelation time of the driving and its normalization systematically change properties of an isothermal compressible magnetohydrodynamic flow in the sub- and supersonic regime and affect astrophysical observations such as Faraday rotation. For example, we find that $\delta$-in-time forcing with a constant energy injection leads to a steeper slope in kinetic energy spectrum and less efficient small-scale dynamo action. In general, we show that shorter autocorrelation times require more power in the acceleration field, which results in more power in compressive modes that weaken the anticorrelation between density and magnetic field strength. Thus, derived observables, such as the line-of-sight magnetic field from rotation measures, are systematically biased by the driving mechanism. We argue that $\delta$-in-time forcing is unrealistic and numerically unresolved, and conclude that special care needs to be taken in interpreting observational results based on the use of idealized simulations.