Related papers: Electron temperature anisotropy in an expanding pl…
In situ observations of the solar wind show a limited level of particle temperature anisotropy with respect to the interplanetary magnetic field direction. Kinetic electromagnetic instabilities are efficient to prevent the excessive growth…
Using 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulations we study electron acceleration by temperature anisotropy instabilities, assuming conditions typical of above-the-loop-top (ALT) sources in solar flares. We focus on the long-term effect of…
The isotropization process of a collisionless plasma with an electron temperature anisotropy along an external magnetic field ($T_\| ^e\gg T_\perp^e$, $\|$ and $\perp$ with respect to the background magnetic field) and isotropic protons is…
Using hybrid-kinetic particle-in-cell simulation, we study the evolution of an expanding, collisionless, magnetized plasma in which strong Alfv\'enic turbulence is persistently driven. Temperature anisotropy generated adiabatically by the…
Despite extensive observational and theoretical efforts, the physical processes responsible for shaping the diversity of accelerated electron spectra observed in solar flares remain poorly understood. We use 2D particle-in-cell (PIC)…
In collision-poor plasmas from space, e.g., solar wind, terrestrial magnetospheres, kinetic instabilities are expected to play a major role in constraining the temperature anisotropy of plasma particles, but a definitive answer can be given…
The indefinite increase of temperature predicted by the solar wind expansion in the direction parallel to the interplanetary magnetic field is already notorious for not being confirmed by the observations. In hot and dilute plasmas from…
An electron distribution with a temperature anisotropy T_par/T_perp > 1 can lead to the Electron Firehose instability (Here par and perp denote directions relative to the background magnetic field B_0). Since possible particle acceleration…
A variety of nonthermal characteristics like kinetic, e.g., temperature, anisotropies and suprathermal populations (enhancing the high energy tails of the velocity distributions) are revealed by the in-situ observations in the solar wind…
The relationship between a decaying strong turbulence and kinetic instabilities in a slowly expanding plasma is investigated using two-dimensional (2-D) hybrid expanding box simulations. We impose an initial ambient magnetic field…
Instabilities driven by pressure anisotropy play a critical role in modulating the energy transfer in space and astrophysical plasmas. For the first time, we simulate the evolution and saturation of the parallel proton firehose instability…
Electron temperature anisotropies and electron beams are nonthermal features of the observed nonequilibrium electron velocity distributions in the solar wind. In collision-poor plasmas these nonequilibrium distributions are expected to be…
Using Parker Solar Probe measurements of the solar wind, we demonstrate that $\beta_{\parallel}$ is the main driver that determines which instabilities limit proton temperature anisotropy. At radial distances from 10 to 30 solar radii,…
In the absence of efficient collisions, deviations from thermal equilibrium of plasma particle distributions are controlled by the self-generated instabilities. The whistler instability is a notorious example, usually responsible for the…
Space plasmas in various astrophysical setups can often be both very hot and dilute, making them highly susceptible to waves and fluctuations, which are generally self-generated and maintained by kinetic instabilities. In this sense, we…
The fast solar wind is a collisionless plasma permeated by plasma waves on many different scales. A plasma wave represents the natural interplay between the periodic changes of the electromagnetic field and the associated coherent motions…
We use 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to study the effect of the saturated whistler instability on the viscous heating and nonthermal acceleration of electrons in a shearing, collisionless plasma with a growing magnetic field,…
Nonthermal features are ubiquitously observed in electron velocity distribution functions in the solar wind, yet their origin in the collisionless, turbulent, expanding solar-wind plasma remains unclear. We investigate how solar-wind…
We have used the free expansion of ultracold neutral plasmas as a time-resolved probe of electron temperature. A combination of experimental measurements of the ion expansion velocity and numerical simulations characterize the crossover…
Turbulent behavior at sub-proton scales in magnetized plasmas is important for a full understanding of the energetics of astrophysical flows such as the solar wind. We study the formation of electron temperature anisotropy due to…