237 research outputs found
Generation of Subion Scale Magnetic Holes from Electron Shear Flow Instabilities in Plasma Turbulence
Magnetic holes (MHs) are coherent structures associated with strong magnetic field depressions in magnetized plasmas. They are observed in many astrophysical environments at a wide range of scales, but their origin is still under debate. In this work, we investigate the formation of subion scale MHs using a fully kinetic 2D simulation of plasma turbulence initialized with parameters typical of the Earthâs magnetosheath. Our analysis shows that the turbulence is capable of generating subion scale MHs from large scale fluctuations via the following mechanism: first, the nonlinear large scale dynamics spontaneously leads to the development of thin and elongated electron velocity shears; these structures then become unstable to the electron Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and break up into small scale electron vortices; the electric current carried by these vortices locally reduces the magnetic field, inducing the formation of subion scale MHs. The MHs thus produced exhibit features consistent with satellite observations and with previous numerical studies. We finally discuss the kinetic properties of the observed subion scale MHs, showing that they are characterized by complex non-Maxwellian electron velocity distributions exhibiting anisotropic and agyrotropic features
Current knowledge on functionality and potential therapeutic uses of donkey milk
The increase of knowledge on the composition of donkey milk has revealed marked similarities to human milk, which led to a growing number of investigations focused on testing the potential effects of donkey milk in vitro and in vivo. This paper examines the scientific evidence regarding the beneficial effects of donkey milk on human health. Most clinical studies report a tolerability of donkey milk in 82.6â98.5% of infants with cow milk protein allergies. The average protein content of donkey milk is about 18 g/L. Caseins, which are main allergenic components of milk, are less represented compared to cow milk (56% of the total protein in donkey vs. 80% in cow milk). Donkey milk is well accepted by children due to its high concentration of lactose (about 60 g/L). Immunomodulatory properties have been reported in one study in humans and in several animal models. Donkey milk also seems to modulate the intestinal microbiota, enhance antioxidant defense mechanisms and detoxifying enzymes activities, reduce hyperglycemia and normalize dyslipidemia. Donkey milk has lower calorie and fat content compared with other milks used in human nutrition (fat ranges from 0.20% to 1.7%) and a more favourable fatty acid profile, being low in saturated fatty acids (3.02 g/L) and high in alpha-linolenic acid (about 7.25 g/100 g of fat). Until now, the beneficial properties of donkey milk have been mostly related to whey proteins, among which ÎČ-lactoglobulin is the most represented (6.06 g/L), followed by α-lactalbumin (about 2 g/L) and lysozyme (1.07 g/L). So far, the health functionality of donkey milk has been tested almost exclusively on animal models. Furthermore, in vitro studies have described inhibitory action against bacteria, viruses, and fungi. From the literature review emerges the need for new randomized clinical trials on humans to provide stronger evidence of the potential beneficial health effects of donkey milk, which could lead to new applications as an adjuvant in the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases, malnutrition, and aging
Physical origin of the power-law tailed statistical distributions
Starting from the BBGKY hierarchy, describing the kinetics of nonlinear
particle system, we obtain the relevant entropy and stationary distribution
function. Subsequently, by employing the Lorentz transformations we propose the
relativistic generalization of the exponential and logarithmic functions. The
related particle distribution and entropy represents the relativistic extension
of the classical Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution and of the Boltzmann entropy
respectively and define the statistical mechanics presented in [Phys. Rev. E
{\bf 66}, 056125 (2002)] and [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 72}, 036108 (2005). The
achievements of the present effort, support the idea that the experimentally
observed power law tailed statistical distributions in plasma physics, are
enforced by the relativistic microscopic particle dynamics.Comment: 6 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1110.3944, arXiv:1012.390
Nonlinear evolution of the magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: from fluid to kinetic modeling
The nonlinear evolution of collisionless plasmas is typically a multi-scale
process where the energy is injected at large, fluid scales and dissipated at
small, kinetic scales. Accurately modelling the global evolution requires to
take into account the main micro-scale physical processes of interest. This is
why comparison of different plasma models is today an imperative task aiming at
understanding cross-scale processes in plasmas. We report here the first
comparative study of the evolution of a magnetized shear flow, through a
variety of different plasma models by using magnetohydrodynamic, Hall-MHD,
two-fluid, hybrid kinetic and full kinetic codes. Kinetic relaxation effects
are discussed to emphasize the need for kinetic equilibriums to study the
dynamics of collisionless plasmas in non trivial configurations. Discrepancies
between models are studied both in the linear and in the nonlinear regime of
the magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, to highlight the effects of small
scale processes on the nonlinear evolution of collisionless plasmas. We
illustrate how the evolution of a magnetized shear flow depends on the relative
orientation of the fluid vorticity with respect to the magnetic field direction
during the linear evolution when kinetic effects are taken into account. Even
if we found that small scale processes differ between the different models, we
show that the feedback from small, kinetic scales to large, fluid scales is
negligable in the nonlinear regime. This study show that the kinetic modeling
validates the use of a fluid approach at large scales, which encourages the
development and use of fluid codes to study the nonlinear evolution of
magnetized fluid flows, even in the colisionless regime
Relativistic kinetics and power-law tailed distributions
The present paper is devoted to the relativistic statistical theory,
introduced in Phys. Rev. E {\bf 66} (2002) 056125 and Phys. Rev. E {\bf 72}
(2005) 036108, predicting the particle distribution function with , and . This, experimentally observed,
relativistic distribution, at low energies behaves as the exponential,
Maxwell-Boltzmann classical distribution, while at high energies presents power
law tails. Here, we obtain the evolution equation, conducting asymptotically to
the above distribution, by using a new deductive procedure, starting from the
relativistic BBGKY hierarchy and by employing the relativistic molecular chaos
hypothesis.Comment: 5 two-column page
Plasma Physical Parameters along CME-driven Shocks. II. Observation-Simulation Comparison
In this work, we compare the spatial distribution of the plasma parameters along the 1999 June 11 coronal mass ejection (CME)-driven shock front with the results obtained from a CME-like event simulated with the FLIPMHD3D code, based on the FLIP-MHD particle-in-cell method. The observational data are retrieved from the combination of white-light coronagraphic data (for the upstream values) and the application of the Rankine-Hugoniot equations (for the downstream values). The comparison shows a higher compression ratio X and AlfvĂ©nic Mach number MA at the shock nose, and a stronger magnetic field deflection d toward the flanks, in agreement with observations. Then, we compare the spatial distribution of MA with the profiles obtained from the solutions of the shock adiabatic equation relating MA, X, and {Ξ }{Bn} (the angle between the upstream magnetic field and the shock front normal) for the special cases of parallel and perpendicular shock, and with a semi-empirical expression for a generically oblique shock. The semi-empirical curve approximates the actual values of MA very well, if the effects of a non-negligible shock thickness {ÎŽ }{sh} and plasma-to magnetic pressure ratio {ÎČ }u are taken into account throughout the computation. Moreover, the simulated shock turns out to be supercritical at the nose and sub-critical at the flanks. Finally, we develop a new one-dimensional Lagrangian ideal MHD method based on the GrAALE code, to simulate the ion-electron temperature decoupling due to the shock transit. Two models are used, a simple solar wind model and a variable-Îł model. Both produce results in agreement with observations, the second one being capable of introducing the physics responsible for the additional electron heating due to secondary effects (collisions, AlfvĂ©n waves, etc.)
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