Hamiltonian fluid reductions of electromagnetic drift-kinetic equations for an arbitrary number of moments

Abstract

We present an infinite family of Hamiltonian electromagnetic fluid models for plasmas, derived from drift-kinetic equations. An infinite hierarchy of fluid equations is obtained from a Hamiltonian drift-kinetic system by taking moments of a generalized distribution function and using Hermite polynomials as weight functions of the velocity coordinate along the magnetic guide field. Each fluid model is then obtained by truncating the hierarchy to a finite number N+1 of equations by means of a closure relation. We show that, for any positive N, a linear closure relation between the moment of order N+1 and the moment of order N guarantees that the resulting fluid model possesses a Hamiltonian structure, thus respecting the Hamiltonian character of the parent drift-kinetic model. An orthogonal transformation is identified which maps the fluid moments to a new set of dynamical variables in terms of which the Poisson brackets of the fluid models become a direct sum and which unveils remarkable dynamical properties of the models in the two-dimensional (2D) limit. Indeed, when imposing translational symmetry with respect to the direction of the magnetic guide field, all models belonging to the infinite family can be reformulated as systems of advection equations for Lagrangian invariants transported by incompressible generalized velocities. These are reminiscent of the advection properties of the parent drift-kinetic model in the 2D limit and are related to the Casimirs of the Poisson brackets of the fluid models. The Hamiltonian structure of the generic fluid model belonging to the infinite family is illustrated treating a specific example of a fluid model retaining five moments in the electron dynamics and two in the ion dynamics. We also clarify the connection existing between the fluid models of this infinite family and some fluid models already present in the literature.