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Abstract Electron cyclotron waves (whistlers) are commonly observed in plasmas near Earth and the solar wind. In the presence of nonlinear mirror modes, bursts of whistlers, usually called lion roars, have been observed within low magnetic field regions associated with these modes. In the intracluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters, the excitation of the mirror instability is expected, but it is not yet clear whether electron and ion cyclotron (IC) waves can also be present under conditions where gas pressure dominates over magnetic pressure (highβ). In this work, we perform fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of a plasma subject to a continuous amplification of the mean magnetic fieldB(t) to study the nonlinear stages of the mirror instability and the ensuing excitation of whistler and IC waves under ICM conditions. Once mirror modes reach nonlinear amplitudes, both whistler and IC waves start to emerge simultaneously, with subdominant amplitudes, propagating in low-Bregions, quasi-parallel toB(t). We show that the underlying source of excitation is the pressure anisotropy of electrons and ions trapped in mirror modes with loss-cone-type distributions. We also observe that IC waves play an essential role in regulating the ion pressure anisotropy at nonlinear stages. We argue that whistler and IC waves are a concomitant feature at late stages of the mirror instability even at highβ, and therefore, expected to be present in astrophysical environments like the ICM. We discuss the implications of our results for collisionless heating and dissipation of turbulence in the ICM.
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A Heating Mechanism via Magnetic Pumping in the Intracluster Medium
Abstract Turbulence driven by active galactic nuclei activity, cluster mergers, and galaxy motion constitutes an attractive energy source for heating the intracluster medium (ICM). How this energy dissipates into the ICM plasma remains unclear, given its low collisionality and high magnetization (precluding viscous heating by Coulomb processes). Kunz et al. proposed a viable heating mechanism based on the anisotropy of the plasma pressure under ICM conditions. The present paper builds upon that work and shows that particles can be heated by large-scale turbulent fluctuations via magnetic pumping. We study how the anisotropy evolves under a range of forcing frequencies, what waves and instabilities are generated, and demonstrate that the particle distribution function acquires a high-energy tail. For this, we perform particle-in-cell simulations where we periodically vary the mean magnetic fieldB(t). WhenB(t) grows (dwindles), a pressure anisotropyP⊥>P∥(P⊥<P∥) builds up (P⊥andP∥are, respectively, the pressures perpendicular and parallel toB(t)). These pressure anisotropies excite mirror (P⊥>P∥) and oblique firehose (P∥>P⊥) instabilities, which trap and scatter the particles, limiting the anisotropy, and providing a channel to heat the plasma. The efficiency of this mechanism depends on the frequency of the large-scale turbulent fluctuations and the efficiency of the scattering the instabilities provide in their nonlinear stage. We provide a simplified analytical heating model that captures the phenomenology involved. Our results show that this process can be relevant in dissipating and distributing turbulent energy at kinetic scales in the ICM.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2010189
- PAR ID:
- 10409146
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 947
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 89
- Size(s):
- Article No. 89
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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