Related papers: Nonlinear theory of mirror instability near thresh…
Slow dynamical changes in magnetic-field strength and invariance of the particles' magnetic moments generate ubiquitous pressure anisotropies in weakly collisional, magnetized astrophysical plasmas. This renders them unstable to fast,…
In the first part we present a review of our results concerning the weakly nonlinear regime of the mirror instability in the framework of an asymptotic model. This model belongs to the class of gradient type systems for which the free…
Based on Grad-Shafranov-like equations, a gyrotropic plasma where the pressures in the static regime are only functions of the amplitude of the local magnetic field is shown to be amenable to a variational principle with a free energy…
The linear threshold condition of the mirror mode including weak drift and finite Larmor radius effects is analysed and shown that it can be given to arbitrary precision in closed analytical form. Combined with observations of mirror modes…
The relationship between a decaying strong turbulence and the mirror instability in a slowly expanding plasma is investigated using two-dimensional hybrid expanding box simulations. We impose an initial ambient magnetic field perpendicular…
Since the first observations by Kaufmann et al.\ (1970), special attention has been paid to static pressure-balanced structures in the form of magnetic holes or humps observed in regions of the solar wind and of planetary magnetosheaths…
A non-perturbative calculation of the gyrotropic pressures associated with large-scale mirror modes is performed, taking into account a finite, possibly anisotropic electron temperature. In the small-amplitude limit, this leads to an…
Mirror modes in collisionless high-temperature plasmas represent macroscopic high-temperature quasi-superconductors with bouncing electrons in discrete-particle resonance with thermal ion-sound noise contributing to the ion-mode growth…
Hybrid-kinetic numerical simulations of firehose and mirror instabilities in a collisionless plasma are performed in which pressure anisotropy is driven as the magnetic field is changed by a persistent linear shear $S$. For a decreasing…
The mirror mode evolving in collisionless magnetised high-temperature thermally anisotropic plasmas is shown to develop an interesting macro-state. Starting as a classical zero frequency ion fluid instability it saturates quasi-linearly at…
We perform direct analysis of mirror mode instabilities from the general dielectric tensor for several model distributions, in the longwavelength limit. The growth rate at the instability threshold depends on the derivative of the…
With the support of hybrid-kinetic simulations and analytic theory, we describe the nonlinear behaviour of long-wavelength non-propagating (NP) modes and fast magnetosonic waves in high-$\beta$ collisionless plasmas, with particular…
In this work linear stability analysis of a magnetized dusty plasma with an anisotropic dust component having transversal motions much stronger than motions parallel to the external magnetic field, and isotropic light plasma components is…
We present a drift kinetic model for the free expansion of a thermal plasma out of a magnetic nozzle. This problem relates to plasma space propulsion systems, natural environments such as the solar wind, and end losses from the expander…
Magnetic holes have been frequently observed in the magnetosheath of Earth and it is believed that these structures are the result of nonlinear evolution of mirror instability. Mirror mode fluctuations mostly appear as magnetic holes in…
The nonlinear evolution of the Kelvin Helmholtz instability in a magnetized plasma with a perpendicular flow close to, or in, the supermagnetosonic regime can produce a significant parallel-to-perpendicular pressure anisotropy. This…
In a magnetized, collisionless plasma, the magnetic moment of the constituent particles is an adiabatic invariant. An increase in the magnetic-field strength in such a plasma thus leads to an increase in the thermal pressure perpendicular…
By means of three dimensional high-resolution hybrid simulations we study the properties of the magnetic field spectral anisotropies near and beyond ion kinetic scales. By using both a Fourier analysis and a local analysis based on…
Properties of the electron mirror instability and its competition with the usually dominant whistler (electron cyclotron) instability driven by the electron perpendicular temperature anisotropy are investigated on the linear level using a…
Mirror modes in collisionless high-temperature plasmas represent macroscopic high-temperature quasi-superconductors. We explicitly calculate the bouncing electron contribution to the ion-mode growth rate, diamagnetic surface current…