Related papers: Propinquity of current and vortex structures: effe…
Relativistic magnetically dominated turbulence is an efficient engine for particle acceleration in a collisionless plasma. Ultrarelativistic particles accelerated by interactions with turbulent fluctuations form non-thermal power-law…
Turbulence in space plasmas usually exhibits two regimes separated by a spectral break that divides the so called inertial and kinetic ranges. Large scale magnetic fluctuations are dominated by non-linear MHD wave-wave interactions…
An understanding of how turbulent energy is partitioned between ions and electrons in weakly collisional plasmas is crucial for modelling many astrophysical systems. Using theory and simulations of a four-dimensional reduced model of…
We report on the occurrence of small-scale vortices in simulations of the convective solar surface. Using an eigenanalysis of the velocity gradient tensor, we find the subset of high vorticity regions in which the plasma is swirling. The…
Alongside magnetic reconnection, turbulence is another fundamental nonlinear plasma phenomenon that plays a key role in energy transport and conversion in space and astrophysical plasmas. From a numerical, theoretical, and observational…
To properly describe heating in weakly collisional turbulent plasmas such as the solar wind, inter-particle collisions should be taken into account. Collisions can convert ordered energy into heat by means of irreversible relaxation towards…
Determining the physical mechanisms that extract energy from turbulent fluctuations in weakly collisional magnetized plasmas is necessary for a more complete characterization of the behavior of a variety of space and astrophysical plasmas.…
Recent observations reveal that magnetic turbulence in the nearly colisionless solar wind plasma extends to scales smaller than the plasma microscales, such as ion gyroradius and ion inertial length. Measured breaks in the spectra of…
We present the first study of the formation and dissipation of current sheets at electron scales in a wave-driven, weakly collisional, 3D kinetic turbulence simulation. We investigate the relative importance of dissipation associated with…
How thermal equilibrium is determined in a weakly collisional plasma is a fundamental question in plasma physics. This letter shows that the turbulence driven by the magnetic curvature and density gradient tends to equilibrate the…
Pressure anisotropy can strongly influence the dynamics of weakly collisional, high-beta plasmas, but its effects are missed by standard magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Small changes to the magnetic-field strength generate large…
The interaction of collisionless shocks with fully developed plasma turbulence is numerically investigated. Hybrid kinetic simulations, where a turbulent jet is slammed against an oblique shock, are employed to address the role of upstream…
Recently, particle in cell (PIC) simulations have shown that relativistic turbulence in collisionless plasmas can result in an equilibrium particle distribution function where turbulent heating is balanced by radiative cooling of electrons.…
Dusty plasma is an admixture of electrons, ions, and massive charged solid particles of sub-micron to micron-sized in the background of neutral gas. The dust grain medium exhibits fluid (liquid) as well as solid-like characteristics at…
Particle dynamics are investigated in plasma turbulence, using self-consistent kinetic simulations, in two dimensions. In steady state, the trajectories of single protons and proton-pairs are studied, at different values of plasma "beta"…
We investigate the role of kinetic instabilities driven by a proton anisotropy on the onset of magnetic reconnection by means of 2-D hybrid simulations. The collisionless tearing of a current sheet is studied in the presence of a proton…
The question of the relative importance of coherent structures and waves has for a long time attracted a great deal of interest in astrophysical plasma turbulence research, with a more recent focus on kinetic scale dynamics. Here we utilize…
We investigate properties of plasma turbulence from magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) to sub-ion scales by means of two-dimensional, high-resolution hybrid particle-in-cell simulations. We impose an initial ambient magnetic field, perpendicular to…
The formation and evolution of nonlinear and turbulent dynamical structures in two-dimensional complex plasmas and fluids is explored by means of generalised (drift) fluid simulations. Recent numerical results on turbulence in dusty…
Internal shocks between propagating plasma shells, originally ejected at different times with different velocities are believed to play a major role in dissipating the kinetic energy, thereby explaining the observed lightcurve and spectra…