Response to “Comment on ‘Heating of ions by low-frequency Alfvén waves in partially ionized plasmas’” [Phys. Plasmas 18, 084703 (2011)

Abstract

The calculation of temperature in a plasma system that is not in thermal equilibrium remains a topic of debate. In our article [Dong and Paty, Phys. Plasmas 18, 030702 (2011)] we use the average kinetic energy to calculate the “kinetic temperature” in a non-equilibrium system to quantify the heating of ions by low-frequency Alfvén waves in a partially ionized plasma (i.e., where collisions with neutrals can not be ignored). We implement a method previously used by Wang, Wu and Yoon [Wang, Wu and Yoon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 125001 (2006)] and several others studying the effects of low frequency Alfvén waves in collisionless plasmas. This method is appropriate for several reasons discussed in this response. Most notably, we implement it to investigate heating of the plasma population since the bulk velocity of the particle ensemble perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field remains zero during the numerical experiment.