Lagrangian fluid description with simple applications in compressible plasma and gas dynamics

Abstract

The Lagrangian fluid description, in which the dynamics of fluids is formulated in terms of trajectories of fluid elements, not only presents an alternative to the more common Eulerian description but has its own merits and advantages. This aspect, which seems to be not fully explored yet, is getting increasing attention in fluid dynamics and related areas as Lagrangian codes and experimental techniques are developed utilizing the Lagrangian point of view with the ultimate goal of a deeper understanding of flow dynamics. In this tutorial review we report on recent progress made in the analysis of compressible, more or less perfect flows such as plasmas and dilute gases. The equations of motion are exploited to get further insight into the formation and evolution of coherent structures, which often exhibit a singular or collapse type behavior occurring in finite time. It is argued that this technique of solution has a broad applicability due to the simplicity and generality of equations used. The focus is on four different topics, the physics of which being governed by simple fluid equations subject to initial and/or boundary conditions. Whenever possible also experimental results are mentioned. In the expansion of a semi-infinite plasma into a vacuum the energetic ion peak propagating supersonically towards the vacuum—as seen in laboratory experiments—is interpreted by means of the Lagrangian fluid description as a relic of a wave breaking scenario of the corresponding inviscid ion dynamics. The inclusion of viscosity is shown numerically to stabilize the associated density collapse giving rise to a well defined fast ion peak reminiscent of adhesive matter. In purely convection driven flows the Lagrangian flow velocity is given by its initial value and hence the Lagrangian velocity gradient tensor can be evaluated accurately to find out the appearance of singularities in density and vorticity and the emergence of new structures such as wavelets in one-dimension (1D). In cosmology referring to the pancake model of Zel'dovich and the adhesion model of Gurbatov and Saichev, both assuming a clumping of matter at the intersection points of fluid particle trajectories (i.e. at the caustics), the foam-like large-scale structure of our Universe observed recently by Chandra X-ray observatory may be explained by the 3D convection of weakly interacting dark matter. Recent developments in plasma and nanotechnology—the miniaturization and fabrication of nanoelectronic devices being one example—have reinforced the interest in the quasi-ballistic electron transport in diodes and triodes, a field which turns out to be best treated by the Lagrangian fluid description. It is shown that the well-known space–charge-limited flow given by Child–Langmuir turns out to be incorrect in cases of finite electron injection velocities at the emitting electrode. In that case it is an intrinsic bifurcation scenario which is responsible for current limitation rather than electron reflection at the virtual cathode as intuitively assumed by Langmuir. The inclusion of a Drude friction term in the electron momentum equation can be handled solely by the Lagrangian fluid description. Exploiting the formula in case of field emission it is possible to bridge ballistic and drift-dominated transport. Furthermore, the transient processes in the electron transport triggered by the switching of the anode potential are shown to be perfectly accounted for by means of the Lagrangian fluid description. Finally, by use of the Lagrangian ion fluid equations in case of a two component, current driven plasma we derive a system of two coupled scalar wave equations which involve the specific volume of ions and electrons, respectively. It has a small amplitude strange soliton solution with unusual scaling properties. In case of charge neutrality the existence of two types of collapses are predicted, one being associated with a density excavation, the other one with a density clumping as in the laser induced ion expansion problem and in the cosmic sticking matter problem. However, only the latter will survive charge separation and hence be observable. In summary, the Lagrangian method of solving fluid equations turns out to be a powerful tool for compressible media in general. It offers new perspectives and addresses to a broad audience of physicists with interest in fields such as plasma and fluid dynamics, semiconductor- and astrophysics, to mention few of them.