Related papers: Microphysical Plasma Relations from Special-relati…
This paper extends our earlier work on the acceleration of low-energy electrons by plasma turbulence to include the effects of finite temperature of the plasma. We consider the resonant interaction of thermal electrons with the whole…
Turbulence is a predominant process for energizing electrons and ions in collisionless astrophysical plasmas, and thus is responsible for shaping their radiative signatures (luminosity, spectra, and variability). To better understand the…
Context. The transition from left-hand to right-hand polarized Alfv\'en waves depends on the wavenumber, the ratio of kinetic to magnetic pressure $\beta$, temperature anisotropy, and ion composition of the plasma. Along with the…
Simulations of relativistic plasmas traditionally focus on the dynamics of two-species mixtures of charged particles under the influence of external magnetic fields and those generated by particle currents. However, the extreme conditions…
The plasma in low-luminosity accretion flows, such as the one around the black hole at the center of M87 or Sgr A* at our Galactic Center, is expected to be collisioness and two-temperature, with protons hotter than electrons. Here,…
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"…
Plasma dynamics is a multi-scale problem that involves many spatial and temporal scales. Turbulence connects the disparate scales in this system through a cascade that is established by nonlinear interactions. Most astrophysical plasma…
We study the effects of plasma \b{eta} (ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure) on the evolution of kinetic plasma turbulence using fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of decaying turbulence. We find that the plasma \b{eta}…
Electron and ion energization (i.e., heating and nonthermal acceleration) is a fundamental, but poorly understood, outcome of plasma turbulence. In this work, we present new results on this topic from particle-in-cell simulations of driven…
Many relativistic plasma environments in high-energy astrophysics, including pulsar wind nebulae, hot accretion flows onto black holes, relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts, and giant radio lobes, are naturally…
The statistical properties of ions in two-dimensional fully developed turbulence have been compared between two different numerical algorithms. In particular, we compare Hybrid Particle In Cell (hybrid PIC with fluid electrons) and full PIC…
We simulate decaying turbulence in electron-positron pair plasmas using a fully- kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) code. We run two simulations with moderate-to-low plasma beta. The energy decay rate is found to be similar in both the cases.…
Thermodynamic properties of the electron-positron plasma (or gas) at high and very high temperatures are investigated. To achieve this goal we have derived a number of analytical formulas for the Fermi-Dirac distribution functions (or…
Plasma energization through magnetic reconnection in the magnetically-dominated regime featured by low plasma beta ($\beta = 8 \pi nkT_0/B^2 \ll 1$) and/or high magnetization ($\sigma = B^2/(4 \pi nmc^2) \gg 1$) is important in a series of…
Hot collisionless accretion flows, such as the one in Sgr A$^{*}$ at our Galactic center, provide a unique setting for the investigation of magnetic reconnection. Here, protons are non-relativistic while electrons can be ultra-relativistic.…
High-energy astrophysical systems frequently contain collisionless relativistic plasmas that are heated by turbulent cascades and cooled by emission of radiation. Understanding the nature of this radiative turbulence is a frontier of…
Plasmas in an accretion flow are heated by MHD turbulence generated through the magneto-rotational instability. The viscous stress driving the accretion is intimately connected to the microscopic processes of turbulence dissipation. We show…
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…
To analyze nonidealities inherent to degenerate plasma, a quantum collective approach is developed. Thermodynamic functions of a system of partially degenerate electrons and strongly coupled ions are derived from first principles. The model…
The Earth's magnetosphere represents a natural plasma laboratory that allows us to study the behavior of particle distribution functions in the absence of Coulomb collisions, typically described by the Kappa distributions. We have…