Spectral analysis of multidimensional current-driven plasma instabilities and turbulence in hollow cathode plumes
Abstract
Large-amplitude current-driven instabilities in hollow cathode plumes can generate energetic ions responsible for cathode sputtering and spacecraft degradation. A 2D2V (two dimensions each in configuration [D] and velocity [V] spaces) grid-based Vlasov--Poisson (direct kinetic) solver is used to study their growth and saturation, which comprises four stages: linear growth, quasilinear resonance, nonlinear fill-in, and saturated turbulence. The linear modal growth rate, nonlinear saturation process, and ion velocity and energy distribution features in the turbulent regime are analyzed. Backstreaming ions are generated for large electron drifts, several ion acoustic periods after the potential field becomes turbulent. Interscale phase-space transfer and locality are analyzed for the Vlasov equation. The multidimensional study sheds light on the interactions between longitudinal and transverse plasma instabilities, as well as the inception of plasma turbulence.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2210.11056,
title = {Spectral analysis of multidimensional current-driven plasma instabilities and turbulence in hollow cathode plumes},
author = {Wai Hong Ronald Chan and Ken Hara and Jonathan M. Wang and Suhas S. Jain and Shahab Mirjalili and Iain D. Boyd},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.11056},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
Center for Turbulence Research Proceedings of the Summer Program 2022