More Like this

1. Kinetic entropy-based measures of distribution function non-Maxwellianity: theory and simulations

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377820001270  

   Liang, Haoming ; Barbhuiya, M. Hasan ; Cassak, P. A. ; Pezzi, O. ; Servidio, S. ; Valentini, F. ; Zank, G. P. ( October 2020 , Journal of Plasma Physics)

   We investigate kinetic entropy-based measures of the non-Maxwellianity of distribution functions in plasmas, i.e. entropy-based measures of the departure of a local distribution function from an associated Maxwellian distribution function with the same density, bulk flow and temperature as the local distribution. First, we consider a form previously employed by Kaufmann & Paterson ( J. Geophys. Res. , vol. 114, 2009, A00D04), assessing its properties and deriving equivalent forms. To provide a quantitative understanding of it, we derive analytical expressions for three common non-Maxwellian plasma distribution functions. We show that there are undesirable features of this non-Maxwellianity measure including thatmore »it can diverge in various physical limits and elucidate the reason for the divergence. We then introduce a new kinetic entropy-based non-Maxwellianity measure based on the velocity-space kinetic entropy density, which has a meaningful physical interpretation and does not diverge. We use collisionless particle-in-cell simulations of two-dimensional anti-parallel magnetic reconnection to assess the kinetic entropy-based non-Maxwellianity measures. We show that regions of non-zero non-Maxwellianity are linked to kinetic processes occurring during magnetic reconnection. We also show the simulated non-Maxwellianity agrees reasonably well with predictions for distributions resembling those calculated analytically. These results can be important for applications, as non-Maxwellianity can be used to identify regions of kinetic-scale physics or increased dissipation in plasmas.« less
2. Decomposition of Plasma Kinetic Entropy into Position and Velocity Space and the Use of Kinetic Entropy in Particle-in-Cell Simulations

   Haoming Liang, Paul A. ( January 2019 , Physics of plasmas)

   We describe a systematic development of kinetic entropy as a diagnostic in fully kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and use it to interpret plasma physics processes in heliospheric, planetary, and astrophysical systems. First, we calculate kinetic entropy in two forms – the “combinatorial” form related to the logarithm of the number of microstates per macrostate and the “continuous” form related to f ln f, where f is the particle distribution function. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each and discuss subtleties about implementing them in PIC codes. Using collisionless PIC simulations that are two-dimensional in position space and three-dimensional inmore »velocity space, we verify the implementation of the kinetic entropy diagnostics and discuss how to optimize numerical parameters to ensure accurate results. We show the total kinetic entropy is conserved to three percent in an optimized simulation of anti-parallel magnetic reconnection. Kinetic entropy can be decomposed into a sum of a position space entropy and a velocity space entropy, and we use this to investigate the nature of kinetic entropy transport during collisionless reconnection. We find the velocity space entropy of both electrons and ions increases in time due to plasma heating during magnetic reconnection, while the position space entropy decreases due to plasma compression. This project uses collisionless simulations, so it cannot address physical dissipation mechanisms; nonetheless, the infrastructure developed here should be useful for studies of collisional or weakly collisional heliospheric, planetary, and astrophysical systems. Beyond reconnection, the diagnostic is expected to be applicable to plasma« less
3. Characterizing Velocity-Space Signatures of Electron Energization in Large-Guide-Field Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

   McCubbin, Andrew J. ; Howes, Gregory G. ; TenBarge, Jason M. ( December 2021 , ArXivorg)

   Magnetic reconnection plays an important role in the release of magnetic energy and consequent energization of particles in collisionless plasmas. Energy transfer in collisionless magnetic reconnection is inherently a two-step process: reversible, collisionless energization of particles by the electric field, followed by collisional thermalization of that energy, leading to irreversible plasma heating. Gyrokinetic numerical simulations are used to explore the first step of electron energization, and we generate the first examples of field-particle correlation (FPC) signatures of electron energization in 2D strong-guide-field collisionless magnetic reconnection. We determine these velocity space signatures at the x-point and in the exhaust, the regionsmore »of the reconnection geometry in which the electron energization primarily occurs. Modeling of these velocity-space signatures shows that, in the strong-guide-field limit, the energization of electrons occurs through bulk acceleration of the out-of-plane electron flow by parallel electric field that drives the reconnection, a non-resonant mechanism of energization. We explore the variation of these velocity-space signatures over the plasma beta range 0.01 < beta_i < 1. Our analysis goes beyond the fluid picture of the plasma dynamics and exploits the kinetic features of electron energization in the exhaust region to propose a single-point diagnostic which can potentially identify a reconnection exhaust region using spacecraft observations.« less
4. Kinetic turbulence in shining pair plasma: intermittent beaming and thermalization by radiative cooling

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa284  

   Zhdankin, Vladimir ; Uzdensky, Dmitri A ; Werner, Gregory R ; Begelman, Mitchell C ( March 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT High-energy astrophysical systems frequently contain collision-less relativistic plasmas that are heated by turbulent cascades and cooled by emission of radiation. Understanding the nature of this radiative turbulence is a frontier of extreme plasma astrophysics. In this paper, we use particle-in-cell simulations to study the effects of external inverse Compton radiation on turbulence driven in an optically thin, relativistic pair plasma. We focus on the statistical steady state (where injected energy is balanced by radiated energy) and perform a parameter scan spanning from low magnetization to high magnetization (0.04 ≲ σ ≲ 11). We demonstrate that the global particle energymore »distributions are quasi-thermal in all simulations, with only a modest population of non-thermal energetic particles (extending the tail by a factor of ∼2). This indicates that non-thermal particle acceleration (observed in similar non-radiative simulations) is quenched by strong radiative cooling. The quasi-thermal energy distributions are well fit by analytic models in which stochastic particle acceleration (due to, e.g. second-order Fermi mechanism or gyroresonant interactions) is balanced by the radiation reaction force. Despite the efficient thermalization of the plasma, non-thermal energetic particles do make a conspicuous appearance in the anisotropy of the global momentum distribution as highly variable, intermittent beams (for high magnetization cases). The beamed high-energy particles are spatially coincident with intermittent current sheets, suggesting that localized magnetic reconnection may be a mechanism for kinetic beaming. This beaming phenomenon may explain rapid flares observed in various astrophysical systems (such as blazar jets, the Crab nebula, and Sagittarius A*).« less
5. Control of electron dynamics, radical and metastable species generation in atmospheric pressure RF plasma jets by Voltage Waveform Tailoring

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6595/ab38ea  

   Korolov, I. ; Donkó, Z. ; Hübner, G. ; Bischoff, L. ; Hartmann, P. ; Gans, T. ; Liu, Y. ; Mussenbrock, T. ; Schulze, J. ( September 2019 , Plasma Sources Science and Technology)

   Atmospheric pressure capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges operated in He/N₂mixtures and driven by tailored voltage waveforms are investigated experimentally using a COST microplasma reference jet and by means of kinetic simulations as a function of the reactive gas admixture and the number of consecutive harmonics used to drive the plasma. Pulse-type ‘peaks’-waveforms, that consist of up to four consecutive harmonics of the fundamental frequency (f = 13.56 MHz), are used at a fixed peak-to-peak voltage of 400 V. Based on an excellent agreement between experimental and simulation results with respect to the DC self-bias and the spatio-temporal electron impact excitation dynamics,more »we demonstrate that Voltage Waveform Tailoring allows for the control of the dynamics of energetic electrons, the electron energy distribution function in distinct spatio-temporal regions of interest, and, thus, the generation of atomic nitrogen as well as helium metastables, which are highly relevant for a variety of technological and biomedical applications. By tuning the number of driving frequencies and the reactive gas admixture, the generation of these important species can be optimised. The behaviour of the DC self-bias, which is different compared to that in low pressure capacitive radio frequency plasmas, is understood based on an analytical model.

   « less