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Turbulence in Magnetized Pair Plasmas

Plasma Physics 2018-10-31 v1 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Abstract

Alfv\'enic-type turbulence in strongly magnetized, low-beta pair plasmas is investigated. A coupled set of equations for the evolution of the magnetic and flow potentials are derived, covering both fluid and kinetic scales. In the fluid (MHD) range those equations are the same as for electron-ion plasmas, so turbulence at those scales is expected to be of the Alfv\'enic nature, exhibiting critical balance, dynamic alignment, and transition to a tearing mediated regime at small scales. The critical scale at which a transition to a tearing-mediated range occurs is derived, and the spectral slope in that range is predicted to be k8/3k_\perp^{-8/3} (or k3k_\perp^{-3}, depending on details of the reconnecting configuration assumed). At scales below the electron (and positron) skin depth, it is argued that turbulence is dictated by a cascade of the inertial Alfv\'en wave, which we show to result in the magnetic energy spectrum k11/3\propto k_\perp^{-11/3}.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.1805.09224,
  title  = {Turbulence in Magnetized Pair Plasmas},
  author = {N. F. Loureiro and S. Boldyrev},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.09224},
  year   = {2018}
}

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R2 v1 2026-06-23T02:05:54.990Z