Related papers: The Magnetorotational Instability in a Collisionle…
Recent calculations by Quataert et al. (2002) found that the growth rates of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in a collisionless plasma can differ significantly from those calculated using MHD. This can be important in hot accretion…
We investigate the linear tearing instability in weakly collisional plasmas using a non-ideal gyrotropic-MHD framework, uncovering a previously unknown scaling relation for the instability growth rate in high-$\beta$ environments. Even…
We present results from the first 3D kinetic numerical simulation of magnetorotational turbulence and dynamo, using the local shearing-box model of a collisionless accretion disc. The kinetic magnetorotational instability grows from a…
Collisionless plasmas, such as those encountered in tokamaks, exhibit a rich variety of instabilities. The physical origin, triggering mechanisms and fundamental understanding of many plasma instabilities, however, are still open problems.…
In dilute astrophysical plasmas, the collisional mean free path of a particle can exceed its Larmor radius. Under these conditions, the thermal conductivity and viscosity of the plasma can be dramatically altered. This alteration allows…
Results from a numerical study of fluctuation dynamo in a collisionless, weakly magnetized plasma are presented. The key difference between this dynamo and its magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) counterpart is the adiabatic production of…
The amplification and maintenance of the observed magnetic fields in the ICM are usually attributed to the turbulent dynamo action. This is generally derived employing a collisional MHD model. However, in the ICM the ion mean free path…
We study the linear stability of weakly magnetized differentially rotating plasmas in both collisionless kinetic theory and Braginskii's theory of collisional, magnetized plasmas. We focus on the very weakly magnetized limit that is…
In low-collisionality plasmas, anisotropic heat conduction due to a magnetic field leads to buoyancy instabilities for any nonzero temperature gradient. We study analogous instabilities in degenerate {\it collisional} plasmas, i.e., when…
Collisionless tearing instability with a power-law distribution function in a relativistic pair plasma with a guide field is studied. When the current sheet is supported by plasma pressure, the tearing mode is suppressed as the particle…
The physical mechanism responsible for driving accretion flows in astrophysical accretion disks is commonly thought to be related to the development of plasma instabilities and turbulence. A key question is therefore the determination of…
We investigate the launching and stability of extragalactic jets through nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation and linear eigenmode analysis. In the simulations of jet evolution, a small-scale equilibrium magnetic arcade is twisted…
The MHD equations, as a collisional fluid model that remains in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), have long been used to describe turbulence in myriad space and astrophysical plasmas. Yet, the vast majority of these plasmas, from the…
In this paper, we analyze the linear stability of a stellar accretion disk, having a stratified morphology. The study is performed in the framework of ideal magneto-hydrodynamics and therefore it results in a characterization of the linear…
The magneto-rotational instability (MRI) is the most likely mechanism for transportation of angular momentum and dissipation of energy within hot, ionized accretion discs. This instability is produced through the interactions of a…
We present analytical and numerical studies of magnetorotational instabilities occuring in magnetized accretion disks. In these studies we make use of the linearised compressible MHD equations. These calculations are performed for general…
Particle acceleration during the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in a collisionless accretion disk was investigated by using a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. We discuss the important role that magnetic reconnection plays not only on…
The first kinetic study of transient growth for a collisionless homogeneous Maxwellian plasma in a uniform magnetic field is presented. A system which is linearly stable may display transient growth if the linear operator describing its…
The transport of angular momentum in the outward direction is the fundamental requirement for accretion to proceed in an accretion disc. This objective can be achieved if the accretion flow is turbulent. Instabilities are one of the sources…
When the ion mean free path much exceeds the Larmor radius in a plasma, the viscous stress tensor is altered dramatically, and depends only upon quantities measured along the field lines. This regime corresponds to typical interstellar…