Search Publications
Efficient kinetic Lattice Boltzmann simulation of three-dimensional Hall-MHD turbulence
Telloni, Daniele; Marino, Raffaele; Foldes, Raffaello +4 more
Simulating plasmas in the Hall-magnetohydrodynamics (Hall-MHD) regime represents a valuable approach for the investigation of complex nonlinear dynamics developing in astrophysical frameworks and fusion machines. The Hall electric field is computationally very challenging as it involves the integration of an additional term, proportional to \nabla…
Collisions of acoustic solitons and their electric fields in plasmas at critical compositions
Verheest, Frank; Hereman, Willy A.
Acoustic solitons obtained through a reductive perturbation scheme are normally governed by a Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation. In multispecies plasmas at critical compositions the coefficient of the quadratic nonlinearity vanishes. Extending the analytic treatment then leads to a modified KdV (mKdV) equation, which is characterized by a cubic non…
How non-stationary are moderately supercritical shocks?
Gedalin, Michael
Ion motion in a collisionless shock front is affected by macroscopic large-scale weakly varying and microscopic small-scale fast varying magnetic and electric fields. With the increase of the Mach number the role of the microscopic field is expected to become progressively more important. Using a combination of hybrid simulations and test particle…
Reduced magneto-hydrodynamic theory of coherent magnetic chains in the solar wind
Alexandrova, Olga; Maksimović, Milan; Jovanović, Dušan +1 more
An analytic theory is presented of magnetic structures in collisionless, high-β plasmas. Using a reduced magnetohydrodynamic model, a stationary nonlinear solution is constructed in the form of a Kelvin-Stuart cat's eyes chain of magnetic islands, on the spatial scale that exceeds the characteristic ion lengths. The solution is imbedded in a backg…
Finite-Larmor-radius equilibrium and currents of the Earth's flank magnetopause
Cerri, S. S.
We consider the one-dimensional equilibrium problem of a shear-flow boundary layer within an `extended-fluid model' of a plasma that includes the Hall and the electron pressure terms in Ohm's law, as well as dynamic equations for anisotropic pressure for each species and first-order finite-Larmor-radius (FLR) corrections to the ion dynamics. We pr…
Diagnosing collisionless energy transfer using field-particle correlations: gyrokinetic turbulence
Klein, Kristopher G.; Howes, Gregory G.; Tenbarge, Jason M.
Determining the physical mechanisms that extract energy from turbulent fluctuations in weakly collisional magnetized plasmas is necessary for a more complete characterization of the behaviour of a variety of space and astrophysical plasmas. Such a determination is complicated by the complex nature of the turbulence as well as observational constra…
Magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: theory and simulations in the Earth's magnetosphere context
Califano, Francesco; Faganello, Matteo
The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, proposed a long time ago for its role in and impact on the transport properties at magnetospheric flanks, has been widely investigated in the Earth's magnetosphere context. This review covers more than fifty years of theoretical and numerical efforts in investigating the evolution of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices and …
The development of magnetic field line wander by plasma turbulence
Howes, Gregory G.; Bourouaine, Sofiane
Plasma turbulence occurs ubiquitously in space and astrophysical plasmas, mediating the nonlinear transfer of energy from large-scale electromagnetic fields and plasma flows to small scales at which the energy may be ultimately converted to plasma heat. But plasma turbulence also generically leads to a tangling of the magnetic field that threads t…
The development of magnetic field line wander in gyrokinetic plasma turbulence: dependence on amplitude of turbulence
Howes, Gregory G.; Bourouaine, Sofiane
The dynamics of a turbulent plasma not only manifests the transport of energy from large to small scales, but also can lead to a tangling of the magnetic field that threads through the plasma. The resulting magnetic field line wander can have a large impact on a number of other important processes, such as the propagation of energetic particles th…
Turbulence Heating ObserveR - satellite mission proposal
Escoubet, C. P.; Vainio, R.; Eastwood, J. P. +44 more
The Universe is permeated by hot, turbulent, magnetized plasmas. Turbulent plasma is a major constituent of active galactic nuclei, supernova remnants, the intergalactic and interstellar medium, the solar corona, the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere, just to mention a few examples. Energy dissipation of turbulent fluctuations plays a key r…