Magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas

A class of processes involving magnetic field reconnection, in collisionless plasmas and magnetic configurations where the field undergoes a finite change of direction, is investigated. Reconnecting modes that rely on the effects of electron Landau resonance and density gradient for their excitation are found to require the analytical or numerical treatment of four consecutive asymptotic regions. The influence of finite electron temperature gradient in the region where the effects of electron Landau resonance prevail, and the convection of energy toward the region where ion Landau resonance is dominant tend to dampen these modes. Conversely, significant distortions of the ion distribution can follow their excitation. The relevance of the obtained results to experimental observations on laboratory plasmas and in space physics is discussed. Different processes are involved with magnetic reconnection in magnetic configurations where the field does not have appreciable shear but has a neutral surface on which it vanishes.     

Low-frequency relativistic electromagnetic solitons in collisionless plasmas

A relativistic electromagnetic soliton solution in the model of a one-dimensional, unbounded, cold, collisionless plasma is obtained without using the envelope approximation. The breaking of solitons with over-critical amplitudes is observed. The stability of undercritical solitons and the breaking of overcritical solitons are demonstrated by a particle-in-cell computer simulation. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 1, 33–38 (10 July 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Kinetic models of shocks in collisionless plasmas

Summary The role played by kinetic effects in some shock waves is described with particular attention being given to perpendicular shocks which are, at present, better understood than any other type. At low values of Mach number and β, the way in which instabilities produce an enhanced resistivity is described, while at higher Mach numbers the nonfluid behaviour of the ions with resultant ion heating is emphasized.

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Riassunto Si descrive il ruolo svolto da effetti cinetici in alcune onde d'urto con particolare attenzione per gli uti perpendicolari che sono, attualmente, meglio compresi di ogni altro tipo. Si descrive il modo in cui instabilit⦏ producono una miglior resistività per bassi valori del numero di Mach e di β, mentre per numeri di Mach più alti si mette in evidenza il comportamento non fluido degli ioni con risultante riscaldamento ionico.

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Резюме Описывается роль, которую играют кинетические эффекты в некоторых ударных волнах, причем, особое внимание уделяется перпендикулярным ударным волнам, которые в настоящее время исследованы лучше, чем другие типы ударных волн. При малых значениях числа Маха и β описывается способ, в котором неустойчивости приводят к увеличенному сопротивлению, тогда как при больших значения числа Маха отмечается поведение ионов, не свойственное жидкости, с результирующим нагревом ионов.

     

Resistive lower-hybrid instability in current-carrying plasmas

Obliquely propagating lower hybrid waves are found to be unstable in a collisional, fully-ionized plasma carrying a field-aligned current.     

Resistive instabilities in current-carrying magnetized plasmas

The stability of ion electrostatic waves with propagation vector nearly normal to a static magnetic field in a collisional plasma carrying a field-aligned current is investigated in the cold plasma approximation.     

Nonlinear dispersion of stationary waves in collisionless plasmas

A nonlinear dispersion of a general stationary wave in collisionless plasma is obtained in a nondifferential form expressed in terms of a single-particle oscillation-center Hamiltonian. For electrostatic oscillations in nonmagnetized plasma, considered as a paradigmatic example, the linear dielectric function is generalized, and the trapped particle contribution to the wave frequency shift Δω is found analytically as a function of the wave amplitude a. Smooth distributions yield Δω ～ a(1/2), as usual. However, beamlike distributions of trapped electrons result in different power laws, or even a logarithmic nonlinearity, which are derived as asymptotic limits of the same dispersion relation.     

Very high Mach-number electrostatic shocks in collisionless plasmas

The kinetic theory of collisionless electrostatic shocks resulting from the collision of plasma slabs with different temperatures and densities is presented. The theoretical results are confirmed by self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations, revealing the formation and stable propagation of electrostatic shocks with very high Mach numbers (M>10), well above the predictions of the classical theories for electrostatic shocks.     

Dynamics of quadruple laser beams in collisionless plasmas

Dynamics of a quadruple laser beam propagating through collisionless plasma has been investigated. The dielectric function of the plasma has been obtained for ponderomotive nonlinearity. Moment theory has been used to find the solution of nonlinear Schrodinger wave equation for the field of laser beam. Particular emphases is put on the variations of both the beam width and longitudinal phase delay with distance of propagation through the plasma. Self-trapping of the laser beam has been also investigated.     

Ion-sound turbulence due to shock gradients in collisionless plasmas

The dispersion relation for ion sound waves generated in a perpendicular shock is derived and the energy density of ion-sound turbulence is obtained using quasilinear theory. The result is compared with the lower hybrid turbulence generated under similar conditions. It is shown that ion-sound turbulence is a better candidate for the generation of type-I radio bursts in the solar corona.     

Time evolution of collisionless shock in counterstreaming laser-produced plasmas

We investigated the time evolution of a strong collisionless shock in counterstreaming plasmas produced using a high-power laser pulse. The counterstreaming plasmas were generated by irradiating a CH double-plane target with the laser. In self-emission streaked optical pyrometry data, steepening of the self-emission profile as the two-plasma interaction evolved indicated shock formation. The shock thickness was less than the mean free path of the counterstreaming ions. Two-dimensional snapshots of the self-emission and shadowgrams also showed very thin shock structures. The Mach numbers estimated from the flow velocity and the brightness temperatures are very high.     

Resistive electromagnetic ion cyclotron instability in counterstreaming plasmas

Obliquely propagating electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves are found to be unstable in a collisional, fully-ionized plasma consisting of two electron beams counterstreaming along an external magnetic field in a background of stationary ions.     

Resistive collimation of electron beams in laser-produced plasmas

Intense relativistic electron beams, produced by high-intensity short-pulse laser irradiation of a solid target, have many potential applications including fusion by fast ignition. Using a unique Fokker-Planck code, supported by analytic calculations, we show that fast electrons can be collimated into a beam even when the fast electron source is not strongly anisotropic, and we derive a condition for collimation to occur.     

Three-dimensional dynamics of collisionless magnetic reconnection in large-scale pair plasmas

Using the largest three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to date, collisionless magnetic reconnection in large-scale electron-positron plasmas without a guide field is shown to involve complex interaction of tearing and kink modes. The reconnection onset is patchy and occurs at multiple sites which self-organize to form a single, large diffusion region. The diffusion region tends to elongate in the outflow direction and become unstable to secondary kinking and formation of "plasmoid-rope" structures with finite extent in the current direction. The secondary kink folds the reconnection current layer, while plasmoid ropes at times follow the folding of the current layer. The interplay between these secondary instabilities plays a key role in controlling the time-dependent reconnection rate in large-scale systems.     

Wave-particle decorrelation and transport of anisotropic turbulence in collisionless plasmas

Comprehensive analysis of the largest first-principles simulations to date shows that stochastic wave-particle decorrelation is the dominant mechanism responsible for electron heat transport driven by electron temperature gradient turbulence with extended radial streamers. The transport is proportional to the local fluctuation intensity, and phase-space island overlap leads to a diffusive process with a time scale comparable to the wave-particle decorrelation time, determined by the fluctuation spectral width. This kinetic time scale is much shorter than the fluid time scale of eddy mixing.     

无碰撞等离子体中电子束流不稳定性的时空演化研究

应用二、三维相对论电磁粒子模拟程序研究双电子束流在无碰撞等离子体中传播引起的横向 电磁(Weibel类型)不稳定性和纵向静电不稳定性的发展演化过程.讨论了纯粹Weibel不稳定 性的发生和非线性饱和过程，观察到电流束合并、磁场重联等引起的电子横向加热现象.研 究了电流束传播方向激发的静电场对快电子束传播的影响，观察到其导致的束的横向调制、 磁场通道破坏现象.对这些过程的细致研究对更好的理解快点火物理中自生磁场的产生、快 电子输运等过程有重要意义.     

Sheath thickness evaluation for collisionless or weakly collisionalbounded plasmas

The widely used Child-Langmuir law for sheath thickness evaluation in semi-infinite collisionless plasmas makes the assumptions of quasi-neutrality (n_e=n_i) and zero electric field intensity E=0 at the sheath edge, as well as applying the Bohm criterion for ions entering the sheath. However, through a whole region fluid model, Poisson's equation has been solved numerically for the steady-state solution through the sheath and presheath without these assumptions. With the sheath edge defined, as in the Child-Langmuir law, at the place where the ion velocity is equal to the Bohm velocity, the sheath thickness of a bounded collisionless or weakly collisional plasma has been found with this model in some cases to be much larger than that obtained with the Child-Langmuir Law. The sheath thickness discrepancy is significant under conditions found in low pressure high density plasma (HDP) tools for plasma processing. Results presented indicate that the sheath thickness is very sensitive to the electric field and space charge density at the sheath edge. The electric field and space charge density can be successfully estimated by an intermediate scale matching method, and are used to derive a modified expression for the potential in the sheath that can be solved numerically for sheath thickness. With these results, the matching problem, arising when sheath and plasma are modeled separately, can be overcome