Kinetic driven turbulence: Structure in space and time

Abstract

The structure in space and time of a driven turbulent magnetoplasma is analyzed using kinetic simulations. For a two dimensional case with a strong uniform out-of-plane magnetic field, large scale driving produces a turbulent state that spans fluid scales to kinetic proton scales. There are fluid electrons in this hybrid representation. In near steady conditions, spectral analysis shows an almost complete absence of discrete point spectral features that would be associated with a dispersion relation and wave activity. While there is indication of a low level of wave activity, the results show that the dynamics are dominated by nonlinear activity. Implications for understanding plasma cascade, dissipation, and heating are discussed.