Abstract Transport equations for electron thermal energy in the high- β e intracluster medium (ICM) are developed that include scattering from both classical collisions and self-generated whistler waves. The calculation employs an expansion of the kinetic electron equation along the ambient magnetic field in the limit of strong scattering and assumes whistler waves with low phase speeds V w ∼ v te / β e ≪ v te dominate the turbulent spectrum, with v te the electron thermal speed and β e ≫ 1 the ratio of electron thermal to magnetic pressure. We find: (1) temperature-gradient-driven whistlers dominate classical scattering when L c > L / β e , with L c the classical electron mean free path and L the electron temperature scale length, and (2) in the whistler-dominated regime the electron thermal flux is controlled by both advection at V w and a comparable diffusive term. The findings suggest whistlers limit electron heat flux over large regions of the ICM, including locations unstable to isobaric condensation. Consequences include: (1) the Field length decreases, extending the domain of thermal instability to smaller length scales, (2) the heat flux temperature dependence changes from T e 7 / 2 / L to V w nT e ∼ T e 1 / 2 , (3) the magneto-thermal- and heat-flux-driven buoyancy instabilities are impaired or completely inhibited, and (4) sound waves in the ICM propagate greater distances, as inferred from observations. This description of thermal transport can be used in macroscale ICM models.
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Feynman path description of the effects of dephasing of spatial coherences on the transmission and reflection probabilities through a one-dimensional potential
Abstract In this work, we examine the effects of spatial dephasing of coherences on the transmission and reflection probabilities for electrons with energyEincident to a one-dimensional rectangular barrier of heightV0. Statistical models are presented where the coherence between different scattering pathways or ‘Feynman paths’ undergo dephasing over a length scale,Lϕ. For incident waves withE>V0, three different dephasing models that attenuate the contributions of spatial coherence to the transmission and reflection probabilities while preserving unitarity (i.e., conserving charge) were investigated. In the tunneling regime (incident waves withE<V0), however, preserving unitarity requiresLϕ→ ∞ , suggesting that elastic tunneling through a rectangular barrier is 100% spatially coherent for these dephasing models. However, wave absorption models are shown to preserve unitarity in the tunneling regime, which is not the case for scattering above the barrier.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1807724
- PAR ID:
- 10477150
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physica Scripta
- Volume:
- 98
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0031-8949
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 025204
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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