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The dissipative mechanism in weakly collisional plasma is a topic that pervades decades of studies without a consensus solution. We compare several energy dissipation estimates based on energy transfer processes in plasma turbulence and provide justification for the pressure–strain interaction as a direct estimate of the energy dissipation rate. The global and scale-by-scale energy balances are examined in 2.5D and 3D kinetic simulations. We show that the global internal energy increase and the temperature enhancement of each species are directly tracked by the pressure–strain interaction. The incompressive part of the pressure–strain interaction dominates over its compressive part in all simulations considered. The scale-by-scale energy balance is quantified by scale filtered Vlasov–Maxwell equations, a kinetic plasma approach, and the lag dependent von Kármán–Howarth equation, an approach based on fluid models. We find that the energy balance is exactly satisfied across all scales, but the lack of a well-defined inertial range influences the distribution of the energy budget among different terms in the inertial range. Therefore, the widespread use of the Yaglom relation in estimating the dissipation rate is questionable in some cases, especially when the scale separation in the system is not clearly defined. In contrast, the pressure–strain interaction balances exactly the dissipation rate at kinetic scales regardless of the scale separation.

 

Abstract An important aspect of energy dissipation in weakly collisional plasmas is that of energy partitioning between different species (e.g., protons and electrons) and between different energy channels. Here we analyse pressure–strain interaction to quantify the fractions of isotropic compressive, gyrotropic, and nongyrotropic heating for each species. An analysis of kinetic turbulence simulations is compared and contrasted with corresponding observational results from Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission data in the magnetosheath. In assessing how protons and electrons respond to different ingredients of the pressure–strain interaction, we find that compressive heating is stronger than incompressive heating in the magnetosheath for both electrons and protons, while incompressive heating is stronger in kinetic plasma turbulence simulations. Concerning incompressive heating, the gyrotropic contribution for electrons is dominant over the nongyrotropic contribution, while for protons nongyrotropic heating is enhanced in both simulations and observations. Variations with plasma β are also discussed, and protons tend to gain more heating with increasing β . 

Abstract Exact laws for evaluating cascade rates, tracing back to the Kolmogorov “4/5” law, have been extended to many systems of interest including magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), and compressible flows of the magnetofluid and ordinary fluid types. It is understood that implementations may be limited by the quantity of available data and by the lack of turbulence symmetry. Assessment of the accuracy and feasibility of such third-order (or Yaglom) relations is most effectively accomplished by examining the von Kármán–Howarth equation in increment form, a framework from which the third-order laws are derived as asymptotic approximations. Using this approach, we examine the context of third-order laws for incompressible MHD in some detail. The simplest versions rely on the assumption of isotropy and the presence of a well-defined inertial range, while related procedures generalize the same idea to arbitrary rotational symmetries. Conditions for obtaining correct and accurate values of the dissipation rate from these laws based on several sampling and fitting strategies are investigated using results from simulations. The questions we address are of particular relevance to sampling of solar wind turbulence by one or more spacecraft. 

We discuss the phenomenon of energization of relativistic charged particles in three-dimensional incompressible MHD turbulence and the diffusive properties of the motion of the same particles. We show that the random electric field induced by turbulent plasma motion leads test particles moving in a simulated box to be accelerated in a stochastic way, a second-order Fermi process. A small fraction of these particles happen to be trapped in large scale structures, most likely formed due to the interaction of islands in the turbulence. Such particles get accelerated exponentially, provided their pitch angle satisfies some conditions. We discuss at length the characterization of the accelerating structure and the physical processes responsible for rapid acceleration. We also comment on the applicability of the results to realistic astrophysical turbulence. 

We demonstrate an efficient mechanism for generating magnetic fields in turbulent, collisionless plasmas. By using fully kinetic, particle-in-cell simulations of an initially nonmagnetized plasma, we inspect the genesis of magnetization, in a nonlinear regime. The complex motion is initiated via a Taylor–Green vortex, and the plasma locally develops strong electron temperature anisotropy, due to the strain tensor of the turbulent flow. Subsequently, in a domino effect, the anisotropy triggers a Weibel instability, localized in space. In such active wave–particle interaction regions, the seed magnetic field grows exponentially and spreads to larger scales due to the interaction with the underlying stirring motion. Such a self-feeding process might explain magnetogenesis in a variety of astrophysical plasmas, wherever turbulence is present.