scholarly journals Dependence on ion temperature of shallow-angle magnetic presheaths with adiabatic electrons

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Geraldini ◽  
F. I. Parra ◽  
F. Militello

The magnetic presheath is a boundary layer occurring when magnetized plasma is in contact with a wall and the angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ between the wall and the magnetic field $\boldsymbol{B}$ is oblique. Here, we consider the fusion-relevant case of a shallow-angle, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}\ll 1$ , electron-repelling sheath, with the electron density given by a Boltzmann distribution, valid for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}/\sqrt{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}+1}\gg \sqrt{m_{\text{e}}/m_{\text{i}}}$ , where $m_{\text{e}}$ is the electron mass, $m_{\text{i}}$ is the ion mass, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}=T_{\text{i}}/ZT_{\text{e}}$ , $T_{\text{e}}$ is the electron temperature, $T_{\text{i}}$ is the ion temperature and $Z$ is the ionic charge state. The thickness of the magnetic presheath is of the order of a few ion sound Larmor radii $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}_{\text{s}}=\sqrt{m_{\text{i}}(ZT_{\text{e}}+T_{\text{i}})}/ZeB$ , where e is the proton charge and $B=|\boldsymbol{B}|$ is the magnitude of the magnetic field. We study the dependence on $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}$ of the electrostatic potential and ion distribution function in the magnetic presheath by using a set of prescribed ion distribution functions at the magnetic presheath entrance, parameterized by $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}$ . The kinetic model is shown to be asymptotically equivalent to Chodura’s fluid model at small ion temperature, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}\ll 1$ , for $|\text{ln}\,\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}|>3|\text{ln}\,\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}|\gg 1$ . In this limit, despite the fact that fluid equations give a reasonable approximation to the potential, ion gyro-orbits acquire a spatial extent that occupies a large portion of the magnetic presheath. At large ion temperature, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}\gg 1$ , relevant because $T_{\text{i}}$ is measured to be a few times larger than $T_{\text{e}}$ near divertor targets of fusion devices, ions reach the Debye sheath entrance (and subsequently the wall) at a shallow angle whose size is given by $\sqrt{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}}$ or $1/\sqrt{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}$ , depending on which is largest.

Author(s):  
Atit Deuja ◽  
Suresh Basnet ◽  
Raju Khanal

Abstract Fluid theory has been employed to investigate the magnetized plasma-wall transition properties for two ion species plasmas with a uniform background of neutral gas density in the presence of an external magnetic field. The external applied magnetic field is parallel to the surface and its magnitude varies in the direction perpendicular to the surface. The governing equations of ion and electron fluids include ionization and collision with neutral atoms. A comparative study of transition parameters for non-uniform and uniform magnetic fields is performed at equal values of the magnetic flux density at $x = 0$. This study shows that the sheath region shrinks for the non-uniform magnetic field case, essentially in reason of the lower value of the average magnetic field intensity in the plasma-wall transition region. We introduce a figure of merit to quantify the non-uniformity of the magnetic field $(B_{\mathrm{max}}-B_{\mathrm{min}})/B_{\mathrm{max}}$, and show that for its value 0.21 it is possible to model the plasma-wall transition region considering the magnetic field as uniform and equal to its average value. Furthermore, we find that the density distribution of electrons close to the surface deviates from the Boltzmann distribution due to the influence of a strong magnetic field.


1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 343-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Lacombe ◽  
G. Belmont ◽  
D. Hubert ◽  
C. C. Harvey ◽  
A. Mangeney ◽  
...  

Abstract. We analyse the fluctuations of the electron density and of the magnetic field in the Earth's magnetosheath to identify the waves observed below the proton gyrofrequency. We consider two quiet magnetosheath crossings i.e. 2 days characterized by small-amplitude waves, for which the solar wind dynamic pressure was low. On 2 August 1978 the spacecraft were in the outer magnetosheath. We compare the properties of the observed narrow-band waves with those of the unstable linear wave modes calculated for an homogeneous plasma with Maxwellian electron and bi-Maxwellian (anisotropic) proton and alpha particle distributions. The Alfvén ion cyclotron (AIC) mode appears to be dominant in the data, but there are also density fluctuations nearly in phase with the magnetic fluctuations parallel to the magnetic field. Such a phase relation can be explained neither by the presence of a proton or helium AIC mode nor by the presence of a fast mode in a bi-Maxwellian plasma. We invoke the presence of the helium cut-off mode which is marginally stable in a bi-Maxwellian plasma with α particles: the observed phase relation could be due to a hybrid mode (proton AIC+helium cut-off ) generated by a non-Maxwellian or a non-gyrotropic part of the ion distribution functions in the upstream magnetosheath. On 2 September 1981 the properties of the fluctuations observed in the middle of the magnetosheath can be explained by pure AIC waves generated by protons which have reached a bi-Maxwellian equilibrium. For a given wave mode, the phase difference between B\\Vert and the density is sensitive to the shape of the ion and electron distribution functions: it can be a diagnosis tool for natural and simulated plasmas.


1967 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 3055-3064 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Loughran ◽  
L. Schott ◽  
H. M. Skarsgard

An investigation is presented of two different probes, of the magnetic analyzer type, in which the magnetic field used for analysis of the particle orbits is also present in the plasma. Both probes employ a current collector whose distance from the aperture plane is adjustable. One probe (the charge-selective probe) collects charged particles of one sign, while theother (the charge-insensitive probe) collects particles of both signs. Assuming a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution of electrons, the current collection characteristics are calculated for each probe. The use of these current characteristics for the measurement of the electron temperature is discussed. A procedure is also given for obtaining the mean electron velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field in the case of a non-Maxwellian velocity distribution. Finally, methods for measuring the ion temperature are presented for the special case of a small Debye length compared with the ion Larmor radius.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ida ◽  
◽  
M. Yoshinuma ◽  
H. Tsuchiya ◽  
T. Kobayashi ◽  
...  

Abstract The driving and damping mechanism of plasma flow is an important issue because flow shear has a significant impact on turbulence in a plasma, which determines the transport in the magnetized plasma. Here we report clear evidence of the flow damping due to stochastization of the magnetic field. Abrupt damping of the toroidal flow associated with a transition from a nested magnetic flux surface to a stochastic magnetic field is observed when the magnetic shear at the rational surface decreases to 0.5 in the large helical device. This flow damping and resulting profile flattening are much stronger than expected from the Rechester–Rosenbluth model. The toroidal flow shear shows a linear decay, while the ion temperature gradient shows an exponential decay. This observation suggests that the flow damping is due to the change in the non-diffusive term of momentum transport.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-29
Author(s):  
P. K. Thakur ◽  
R. R. Pokhrel ◽  
R. Khanal

 Plasma sheath formed in front of a material wall plays an important role in overall plasma properties. Magnetized plasma sheath for both collisional and collisionless cases in a cylindrical co-ordinate system was studied using a fluid model. The fluid equations were compiled for the considered geometry and were solved numerically, using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method for prescribed boundary and initial conditions. The ion velocity along the axis of the cylinder and the ion density profiles were studied for collisionless and collisional cases and at different obliqueness of the magnetic field. The ion velocities acquired its maximum value at the wall with monotonic increment in collisionless cases, whereas the ion density profile was not monotonic in collisionless case as well as when the obliqueness of the magnetic field starts increasing. In such cases, the ion density increases close to the entrance and then decreases monotonically towards the wall. The study provides insight to plasma properties in cylindrical plasmas which are common in discharge tubes, light sources and plasma jets.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Smets ◽  
G. Belmont ◽  
D. Delcourt ◽  
L. Rezeau

Abstract. Using hybrid simulations, we examine how particles can diffuse across the Earth's magnetopause because of finite Larmor radius effects. We focus on tangential discontinuities and consider a reversal of the magnetic field that closely models the magnetopause under southward interplanetary magnetic field. When the Larmor radius is on the order of the field reversal thickness, we show that particles can cross the discontinuity. We also show that with a realistic initial shear flow, a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability develops that increases the efficiency of the crossing process. We investigate the distribution functions of the transmitted ions and demonstrate that they are structured according to a D-shape. It accordingly appears that magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause is not the only process that leads to such specific distribution functions. A simple analytical model that describes the built-up of these functions is proposed.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 785-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kis ◽  
M. Scholer ◽  
B. Klecker ◽  
H. Kucharek ◽  
E. A. Lucek ◽  
...  

Abstract. Field-aligned beams are known to originate from the quasi-perpendicular side of the Earth's bow shock, while the diffuse ion population consists of accelerated ions at the quasi-parallel side of the bow shock. The two distinct ion populations show typical characteristics in their velocity space distributions. By using particle and magnetic field measurements from one Cluster spacecraft we present a case study when the two ion populations are observed simultaneously in the foreshock region during a high Mach number, high solar wind velocity event. We present the spatial-temporal evolution of the field-aligned beam ion distribution in front of the Earth's bow shock, focusing on the processes in the deep foreshock region, i.e. on the quasi-parallel side. Our analysis demonstrates that the scattering of field-aligned beam (FAB) ions combined with convection by the solar wind results in the presence of lower-energy, toroidal gyrating ions at positions deeper in the foreshock region which are magnetically connected to the quasi-parallel bow shock. The gyrating ions are superposed onto a higher energy diffuse ion population. It is suggested that the toroidal gyrating ion population observed deep in the foreshock region has its origins in the FAB and that its characteristics are correlated with its distance from the FAB, but is independent on distance to the bow shock along the magnetic field.


2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (2) ◽  
pp. 208
Author(s):  
Siddhartha Gupta ◽  
Damiano Caprioli ◽  
Colby C. Haggerty

Abstract A strong super-Alfvénic drift of energetic particles (or cosmic rays) in a magnetized plasma can amplify the magnetic field significantly through nonresonant streaming instability (NRSI). While the traditional analysis is done for an ion current, here we use kinetic particle-in-cell simulations to study how the NRSI behaves when it is driven by electrons or by a mixture of electrons and positrons. In particular, we characterize the growth rate, spectrum, and helicity of the unstable modes, as well the level of the magnetic field at saturation. Our results are potentially relevant for several space/astrophysical environments (e.g., electron strahl in the solar wind, at oblique nonrelativistic shocks, around pulsar wind nebulae), and also in laboratory experiments.


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