Collisionless Plasma Research Articles

Detection of bifurcation in phase-space perturbative structures across transient wave–particle interaction in laboratory plasmas

A key ingredient for realizing a magnetically confined tritium-deuterium plasma fusion reactor is plasma heating by fusion-born high-energy helium ions, as a chained cycle of "nuclear burning." Efficient collisionless plasma heating by high-energy particles is anticipated when their energy is directly transferred to the plasma through waves. Those processes often involve nonlinear structure formations in phase-space, spanned by real-space and velocity-space coordinates, that significantly influence heating efficiency. To date, experimental knowledge of phase-space structure formation physics is severely limited, due to lack of experimental diagnostic schemes. Here, state-of-the-art hardware and software approaches for phase-space perturbative structure detection are introduced. A bifurcation in the phase-space structure formation is found, which affects the plasma heating efficiency. A confinement magnetic field structure is shown to be a potential knob for nuclear-burning control through phase-space manipulation.

Relativistic and Heavy Ion Effects on Single‐ and Multi‐Soliton Structures of Ion‐Acoustic Waves

ABSTRACTThe fundamental characteristics of ion‐acoustic waves (IAWs) due to the relativistic effects are investigated in a collisionless unmagnetized plasma system consisting of relativistic positively charged inertial heavy ions, kappa‐distributed electrons, and Maxwellian light ions. The reductive perturbation method (RPM) is used to derive the nonlinear evolution equation like the Korteweg‐de Vries (KdV) equation. The production of single‐, double‐, and triple‐IAW solitons (IAWSs) is also investigated. It is found that for the effects of concerned parameters only rarefactive (IAWSs) are produced. The results obtained in this study are useful not only to understand the space plasma phenomena such as plasma sheet boundary layer of earth's magnetosphere, laser‐plasma interaction, but also to validate the laboratory experiments.

Linear and nonlinear dynamics of self-consistent collisionless tearing modes in toroidal gyrokinetic simulations

We investigate tearing modes (TM) driven by current density gradient in collisionless tokamak plasmas by using the electromagnetic gyrokinetic simulation code ORB5. We elucidate the TM width by simulations for flat profiles, as the absence of background diamagnetic flows implies a small rotation speed, while finite gradients are included to investigate the TM rotation. For flat profiles, the initial saturation width of nonlinearly driven magnetic islands is related to the TM linear growth rate; however, large islands in the initial saturation phase are prone to current density redistribution that reduces the island width in the following evolution. Island-induced E×B and diamagnetic sheared flows develop at the separatrix, able to destabilize the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI). The KHI turbulence enhances a strong quadrupole vortex flow that reinforces the island decay, resulting in a strong reduction of the island width in an eventual steady state. This process is enhanced by trapped electrons. For finite gradients profile, the TM usually rotates in the electron diamagnetic direction but can change direction when the ion temperature gradient dominates the other gradients. The reduced growth of the TM by diamagnetic effects results in a moderate island size, which remains almost unchanged after the initial saturation. At steady state, strong zonal flows are nonlinearly excited and dominate the island rotation, as expected from previous theoretical and numerical studies. When β is increased, the TM mode is suppressed and a mode with the same helicity but with twisting parity, coupled with the neighboring poloidal harmonics, is destabilized, similar to the kinetic ballooning mode.

Bifurcation analysis of Van der Pol–Mathieu equation for the dust grain charge with regularized (κ)-distributed electron-ion

This paper presents a novel viewpoint on nonlinear dust-acoustic waves (DAWs) in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma containing regularized [Formula: see text] distributed electrons and ions (ei) and negative dust grain. The nonlinear oscillatory system based on hybridization of the Van der Pol–Mathieu equation (VdPME) is derived by a new technique. By bifurcation analysis of the planar dynamical system (DS), the effects of parameters with the assistance of phase planes and time series of VdPME are studied. After analyzing the equation to identify the resonance region, a fourth-order Runge–Kutta method is used to solve it numerically. We explained the behavior of DA periodic, stable limit cycle, and chaotic limit cycle wave solutions with different parameters. These types of numerical solutions are illustrated in two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics by changing the rate at which charged dust grain is produced [Formula: see text], as well as waste [Formula: see text] and comparing the results with those of earlier research. A novel bifurcation analysis of VdPE and VdPME is obtained with the effects of the cut-off factor [Formula: see text] of regularized [Formula: see text]-distribution (RKD) distributed ei, the superthermality of ei particles [Formula: see text], the ratio of ion to electron temperature [Formula: see text], and the ratio of dust to electron density [Formula: see text] illustrated. It is noticed that the DAW shows promotion in width and amplitude as the frequency [Formula: see text] increases and it becomes rarefaction as the cut-off parameter [Formula: see text] increases. On the contrary, it becomes compressive under the impact of superthermality [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The obtained conclusions may help explain and comprehend a variety of applications in experimental plasma containing highly energy regularized [Formula: see text] dispersed ei, as well as in the interstellar medium.

Collisionless cooling of perpendicular electron temperature in the thermal quench of a magnetized plasma

Thermal quench of a nearly collisionless plasma against an isolated cooling boundary or region is an undesirable off-normal event in magnetic fusion experiments, but an ubiquitous process of cosmological importance in astrophysical plasmas. Parallel transport theory of ambipolar-constrained tail electron loss is known to predict rapid cooling of the parallel electron temperature \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$T_{e\\parallel },$$\\end{document} although \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$T_{e\\parallel }$$\\end{document} is difficult to diagnose in actual experiments. Instead direct experimental measurements can readily track the perpendicular electron temperature \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$T_{e\\perp }$$\\end{document} via electron cyclotron emission. The physics underlying the observed fast drop in \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$T_{e\\perp }$$\\end{document} requires a resolution. Here two collisionless mechanisms, dilutional cooling by infalling cold electrons and wave-particle interaction by two families of whistler instabilities, are shown to enable fast \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$T_{e\\perp }$$\\end{document} cooling that closely tracks the mostly collisionless crash of \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$T_{e\\parallel }.$$\\end{document} These findings motivate both experimental validation and reexamination of a broad class of plasma cooling problems in laboratory, space, and astrophysical settings.

Electron-only Reconnection and Ion Heating in 3D3V Hybrid-Vlasov Plasma Turbulence

We perform 3D3V hybrid-Vlasov simulations of turbulence with quasi-isotropic, compressible injection near ion scales to mimic the Earth’s magnetosheath plasma, and investigate the novel electron-only reconnection, recently observed by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, and its impact on ion heating. Retaining electron inertia in the generalized Ohm's law enables collisionless magnetic reconnection. Spectral analysis shows a shift from kinetic Alfvén waves to inertial kinetic Alfvén and inertial whistler waves near electron scales. To distinguish the roles of inertial scale and gyroradius (d i and ρ i), three ion beta (β i = 0.25, 1, 4) values are studied. Ion-electron decoupling increases with β i, as ions become less mobile when the injection scale is closer to ρ i than d i, highlighting the role of ρ i in achieving an electron magnetohydrodynamic regime at sub-ion scales. This regime promotes electron-only reconnection in turbulence with small-scale injection at β i ≳ 1. We observe significant ion heating even at large β i, with Q i/ϵ ≈ 69%, 91%, and 96% at β i = 0.25, 1, and 4, respectively. While ion heating is anisotropic at β i ≤ 1 (T i,⊥ > T i,∥), it is marginally anisotropic at β i > 1 (T i,⊥ ≳ T i,∥). Our results show ion turbulent heating in collisionless plasmas is sensitive to the separation between injection scales (λ inj) and ρ i, β i, and finite-k ∥ effects, necessitating further investigation for accurate modeling. These findings have implications for other collisionless astrophysical environments, like high-β plasmas in intracluster medium, where processes such as microinstabilities or shocks may inject energy near ion-kinetic scales.

Temperature inversion in a confined plasma atmosphere: coarse-grained effect of temperature fluctuations at its base

Prompted by the relevant problem of temperature inversion (i.e. gradient of density anti-correlated to the gradient of temperature) in astrophysics, we introduce a novel method to model a gravitationally confined multi-component collisionless plasma in contact with a fluctuating thermal boundary. We focus on systems with anti-correlated (inverted) density and temperature profiles, with applications to solar physics. The dynamics of the plasma is analytically described via the coupling of an appropriated coarse-grained distribution function and a temporally coarse-grained Vlasov dynamics. We derive a stationary solution of the system and predict the inverted density and temperature profiles of the two species for scenarios relevant for the corona. We validate our method by comparing the analytical results with kinetic numerical simulations of the plasma dynamics in the context of the two-species Hamiltonian mean-field model. Finally, we apply our theoretical framework to the problem of the temperature inversion in the solar corona, obtaining density and temperature profiles in remarkably good agreement with the observations.

AHKASH: a new Hybrid particle-in-cell code for simulations of astrophysical collisionless plasma.

We introduce Astrophysical Hybrid-Kinetic simulations with the flash code ([Formula: see text]) - a new Hybrid particle-in-cell (PIC) code developed within the framework of the multiphysics code flash. The new code uses a second-order accurate Boris integrator and a predictor-predictor-corrector algorithm for advancing the Hybrid-kinetic equations, using the constraint transport method to ensure that magnetic fields are divergence-free. The code supports various interpolation schemes between the particles and grid cells, with post-interpolation smoothing to reduce finite particle noise. We further implement a [Formula: see text] method to study instabilities in weakly collisional plasmas. The new code is tested on standard physical problems such as the motion of charged particles in uniform and spatially varying magnetic fields, the propagation of Alfvén and whistler waves, and Landau damping of ion acoustic waves. We test different interpolation kernels and demonstrate the necessity of performing post-interpolation smoothing. We couple the turbgen turbulence driving module to the new Hybrid PIC code, allowing us to test the code on the highly complex physical problem of the turbulent dynamo. To investigate steady-state turbulence with a fixed sonic Mach number, it is important to maintain isothermal plasma conditions. Therefore, we introduce a novel cooling method for Hybrid PIC codes and provide tests and calibrations of this method to keep the plasma isothermal. We describe and test the 'hybrid precision' method, which significantly reduces (by a factor [Formula: see text]) the computational cost, without compromising the accuracy of the numerical solutions. Finally, we test the parallel scalability of the new code, showing excellent scaling up to 10,000 cores.

Nonlinear dust ion acoustic solitary waves propagation in a magnetized plasma with Tsallis electron distribution

Abstract We have done a theoretical investigation into the propagation of nonlinear dust ion acoustic solitary waves and their soliton properties in a three-component magnetized collisionless plasma consisting of inertial positively charged ions, noninertial electrons following a Tsallis q–distribution, and stationary negatively charged dust grains. We consider a uniform external magnetic field along the z–direction, and the wave propagation occurs obliquely to the magnetic field direction. It is observed that the two types of wave modes namely slow and fast modes, are appears in the linear analysis. By employing the reductive perturbation method, the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and modified KdV equations are determined to describe the small amplitude dust ion acoustic soliton. The dependence of several physical plasma parameters including nonextensive q–parameter, magnetic field strength etc. of our plasma on the propagating dust ion acoustic solitary waves potential are numerically examined. This study shows the simultaneous existence of compressive and rarefactive solitons due to the variation of first order nonlinearity coefficient represented by the KdV equation and it is found that there is a critical point for the plasma parameters where the amplitude of the soliton of KdV equation become diverges. The mKdV equation with second order nonlinearity coefficient is derived from there and observed the solitons only with finite amplitude. The present study could be helpful for understanding the nonlinear travelling waves propagating in laboratory and space plasma environments.

Acceleration of ion phase-space holes due to interactions with ion solitons in a wave-guided plasma

Ion phase-space holes are solitary kinetic structures found in the ion phase-space of collision-less plasmas, and are nonlinear solutions to the Vlasov-Poisson equations, identified as Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) modes. In this study, interactions between an ion phase-space hole and a travelling ion KdV soliton is presented. This interaction, which is simulated in a fully ionised highly magnetised plasma within a cylindrical wave-guide, exhibits acceleration and deacceleration of the ion hole, depending on its mode of collision with the travelling ion soliton. We present these interactions and discuss the mechanism of this interaction between the two solitary waves.

Kinetic Alfvén solitary waves in astrophysical plasmas

The magnetospheric plasma (hot and thin) and the solar wind plasma (cold and dense) are separated by the Earth’s magnetopause, in which plasmas of both origins coexist. Different types of plasma diffusions are found due to this plasma mixing, and kinetic Alfvén solitary waves (KASWs) are one of them. In this work, a theoretical approach is taken to study the fundamental properties of heavy ion acoustic KASWs (HIAKASWs) in a magnetized plasma system whose constituents are nonextensive q-distributed two temperature electrons with dynamical heavy ions. The perturbations of the magnetized collisionless plasma system are investigated using the reductive perturbation technique to deduce the Korteweg–de Vries (K–DV) and modified K–DV (MK–DV) equations to determine the fundamental characteristics of small, but finite amplitude HIAKASWs. The presence of nonextensive electrons, magnetic field, obliquity angle (the angle between the external magnetic field and wave propagation), plasma particle number densities, and the temperature of various plasma species are observed to significantly alter the fundamental properties of HIAKASWs. The findings of our present study may be useful for comprehending the nonlinear wave properties in diverse interstellar plasma environments.

The Effect of External Magnetic Field on Electron Scale Kelvin–Helmholtz Instability

We use particle-in-cell, fully electromagnetic, plasma kinetic simulation to study the effect of external magnetic field on electron scale Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (ESKHI). The results are applicable to collisionless plasmas when, e.g., solar wind interacts with planetary magnetospheres or a magnetic field is generated in AGN jets. We find that as in the case of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) KHI, in the kinetic regime, the presence of an external magnetic field reduces the growth rate of the instability. In the MHD case, there is a known threshold magnetic field for KHI stabilization, while for ESKHI this is to be analytically determined. Without a kinetic analytical expression, we use several numerical simulation runs to establish an empirical dependence of ESKHI growth rate, Γ(B 0)ω pe, on the strength of the applied external magnetic field. We find the best fit is hyperbolic, Γ(B0)ωpe=Γ0ωpe/(A+BB¯0) , where Γ0 is the ESKHI growth rate without an external magnetic field and B¯0=B0/BMHD is the ratio of external and two-fluid MHD stability threshold magnetic field, derived here. An analytical theory to back up this growth rate dependence on the external magnetic field is needed. The results suggest that in astrophysical settings where a strong magnetic field pre-exists, the generation of an additional magnetic field by the ESKHI is suppressed, which implies that nature provides a “safety valve”—natural protection not to “over-generate” magnetic field by the ESKHI mechanism. Remarkably, we find that our two-fluid MHD threshold magnetic field is the same (up to a factor γ0 ) as the DC saturation magnetic field, previously predicted by fully kinetic theory.

“Cosmic alternator” for the onset of large-scale magnetic fields

Magnetic field configurations extending over macroscopic scale distances are shown to be generated in rarefied collisionless plasmas when non-thermal and spatially inhomogeneous electron distributions in phase space emerge. The analyzed representative case is where, in the presence of a significant spatial gradient of the electron pressure and of a sheared magnetic field configuration, an alternating magnetic field reconnection process can develop associated with the anisotropy of the fluctuating electron temperature. The relevant process is intrinsically different from that known as the “Biermann Battery,” which does not involve magnetic reconnection and requires that the unperturbed spatial gradient of the (isotropic) electron temperature be misaligned relative to that of the density gradient.

Soliton interaction in a two-temperature electron plasma with trapping and superthermality effects

Head-on collision of the two small-amplitude electron-acoustic (EA) solitons is studied in an unmagnetized collisionless plasma in the presence of superthermal (hot) trapped electrons. For this purpose, using a well-known extended Poincare–Lighthill–Kuo (PLK) method, a pair of the trapped Korteweg–de Vries (tKdV) equations is derived to investigate the soliton trajectories and phase shifts. The latter are found dependent on amplitudes of the interacting solitons, effectively altering with hot-electron superthermality and plasma parameters. Typical parameters for the electron diffusion region (EDR) and day-side auroral zone have been selected to examine the impact of hot-electron superthermality, trapping parameter, hot-to-cold electron number density ratio, and cold-to-hot electron temperature ratio on the profiles of potential excitations and phase shifts of interacting solitons. It is found that phase speed of the EA waves becomes altered by varying the κ–parameter, strongly modifying the nonlinearity and dispersive coefficients in a superthermal trapped plasma. However, particle trapping phenomenon does not affect the linear phase speed but introduces a fractional nonlinearity in the tKdV equations of two interacting solitons. The impact of the adiabatic and isothermal pressures is also highlighted to show new modifications in the propagation characteristics of two interacting solitons.

Excitation of ion acoustic waves by Laguerre−Gaussian laser beams in collisionless plasma: combined effects of self focusing and density ramp

Excitation of ion acoustic waves by Laguerre−Gaussian laser beams in collisionless plasma: combined effects of self focusing and density ramp

Self-focusing of skew cosh gaussian laser beams propagation in absorbing collisionless and collisional plasmas

Self-focusing of skew cosh gaussian laser beams propagation in absorbing collisionless and collisional plasmas

On the Effect of Driving Turbulent-like Fluctuations on a Harris Current Sheet Configuration and the Formation of Plasmoids

Energy dissipation in collisionless plasmas is one of the most outstanding open questions in plasma physics. Magnetic reconnection and turbulence are two phenomena that can produce the conditions for energy dissipation. These two phenomena are closely related to each other in a wide range of plasmas. Turbulent fluctuations can emerge in critical regions of reconnection events, and magnetic reconnection can occur as a product of the turbulent cascade. In this study, we perform 2D particle-in-cell simulations of a reconnecting Harris current sheet in the presence of turbulent fluctuations to explore the effect of turbulence on the reconnection process in collisionless nonrelativistic pair plasmas. We find that the presence of a turbulent field can affect the onset and evolution of magnetic reconnection. Moreover, we observe the existence of a scale-dependent amplitude of magnetic field fluctuations above which these fluctuations are able to disrupt the growing of magnetic islands. These fluctuations provide thermal energy to the particles within the current sheet and preferential perpendicular thermal energy to the background population.

Particle Acceleration in Relativistic Alfvénic Turbulence

Strong magnetically dominated Alfvénic turbulence is an efficient engine of nonthermal particle acceleration in a relativistic collisionless plasma. We argue that in the limit of strong magnetization, the type of energy distribution attained by accelerated particles depends on the relative strengths of turbulent fluctuations δ B 0 and the guide field B 0. If δ B 0 ≪ B 0, the particle magnetic moments are conserved, and the acceleration is provided by magnetic curvature drifts. Curvature acceleration energizes particles in the direction parallel to the magnetic field lines, resulting in log-normal tails of particle energy distribution functions. Conversely, if δ B 0 ≳ B 0, interactions of energetic particles with intense turbulent structures can scatter particles, creating a population with large pitch angles. In this case, magnetic mirror effects become important, and turbulent acceleration leads to power-law tails of the energy distribution functions.

Ion-acoustic solitons in multicomponent plasma with two temperature non-Maxwellian electrons

The study of ion-acoustic solitons (IASs) in an unmagnetised collisionless plasma system having inertial fluid ions and two temperature hot as well as cold electrons obeying Cairns–Tsallis (CT) distribution is presented. Using reductive perturbation method, the KdV equation is derived. Further, introducing higher-order effects of nonlinearity and dispersion, a nonlinear KdV-type inhomogeneous equation is derived that supports the formation of dressed solitons. The combined effects of higher-order corrections and various plasma parameters are analysed on the characteristics of the different kinds of ion-acoustic solitons with implications to Saturn's magnetosphere.

Three propagation regimes of Laguerre–Gaussian laser beams in collisionless plasma

Three propagation regimes of Laguerre–Gaussian laser beams in collisionless plasma