Toward First-principles Characterization of Cosmic-Ray Transport Coefficients from Multiscale Kinetic Simulations

Abstract

Abstract A major uncertainty in understanding the transport and feedback of cosmic rays (CRs) within and beyond our Galaxy lies in the unknown CR scattering rates, which are primarily determined by wave–particle interaction at microscopic gyroresonant scales. The source of the waves for the bulk CR population is believed to be self-driven by the CR streaming instability (CRSI), resulting from the streaming of CRs downward a CR pressure gradient. While a balance between driving by the CRSI and wave damping is expected to determine wave amplitudes and hence the CR scattering rates, the problem involves significant scale separation with substantial ambiguities based on quasi-linear theory (QLT). Here we propose a novel “streaming box” framework to study the CRSI with an imposed CR pressure gradient, enabling first-principles measurement of the CR scattering rates as a function of environmental parameters. By employing the magnetohydrodynamic particle-in-cell method with ion–neutral damping, we conduct a series of simulations with different resolutions and CR pressure gradients and precisely measure the resulting CR scattering rates in steady state. The measured rates show scalings consistent with QLT, but with a normalization smaller by a factor of several than typical estimates based on the single-fluid treatment of CRs. A momentum-by-momentum treatment provides better estimates when integrated over momentum but is also subject to substantial deviations, especially at small momentum. Our framework thus opens up the path toward providing comprehensive subgrid physics for macroscopic studies of CR transport and feedback in broad astrophysical contexts.