144 research outputs found
Particle-in-cell and weak turbulence simulations of plasma emission
The plasma emission process, which is the mechanism for solar type II and
type III radio bursts phenomena, is studied by means of particle-in-cell and
weak turbulence simulation methods. By plasma emission, it is meant as a loose
description of a series of processes, starting from the solar flare associated
electron beam exciting Langmuir and ion-acoustic turbulence, and subsequent
partial conversion of beam energy into the radiation energy by nonlinear
processes. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation is rigorous but the method is
computationally intense, and it is difficult to diagnose the results. Numerical
solution of equations of weak turbulence (WT) theory, termed WT simulation, on
the other hand, is efficient and naturally lends itself to diagnostics since
various terms in the equation can be turned on or off. Nevertheless, WT theory
is based upon a number of assumptions. It is, therefore, desirable to compare
the two methods, which is carried out for the first time in the present paper
with numerical solutions of the complete set of equations of the WT theory and
with two-dimensional electromagnetic PIC simulation. Upon making quantitative
comparisons it is found that WT theory is largely valid, although some
discrepancies are also found. The present study also indicates that it requires
large computational resources in order to accurately simulate the radiation
emission processes, especially for low electron beam speeds. Findings from the
present paper thus imply that both methods may be useful for the study of solar
radio emissions as they are complementary.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure
The general dielectric tensor for bi-kappa magnetized plasmas
In this paper we derive the dielectric tensor for a plasma containing
particles described by an anisotropic superthermal (bi-kappa) velocity
distribution function. The tensor components are written in terms of the
two-variables kappa plasma special functions, recently defined by Gaelzer and
Ziebell [Phys. Plasmas 23, 022110 (2016)]. We also obtain various new
mathematical properties for these functions, which are useful for the
analytical treatment, numerical implementation and evaluation of the functions
and, consequently, of the dielectric tensor. The formalism developed here and
in the previous paper provides a mathematical framework for the study of
electromagnetic waves propagating at arbitrary angles and polarizations in a
superthermal plasma.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics of Plasma
Obliquely propagating electromagnetic waves in magnetized kappa plasmas
Velocity distribution functions (VDFs) that exhibit a power-law dependence on
the high-energy tail have been the subject of intense research by the plasma
physics community. Such functions, known as kappa or superthermal
distributions, have been found to provide a better fitting to the VDFs measured
by spacecraft in the solar wind. One of the problems that is being addressed on
this new light is the temperature anisotropy of solar wind protons and
electrons. In the literature, the general treatment for waves excited by
(bi-)Maxwellian plasmas is well-established. However, for kappa distributions,
the wave characteristics have been studied mostly for the limiting cases of
purely parallel or perpendicular propagation, relative to the ambient magnetic
field. Contributions to the general case of obliquely-propagating
electromagnetic waves have been scarcely reported so far. The absence of a
general treatment prevents a complete analysis of the wave-particle interaction
in kappa plasmas, since some instabilities can operate simultaneously both in
the parallel and oblique directions. In a recent work, Gaelzer and Ziebell [J.
Geophys. Res. 119, 9334 (2014)] obtained expressions for the dielectric tensor
and dispersion relations for the low-frequency, quasi-perpendicular dispersive
Alfv\'en waves resulting from a kappa VDF. In the present work, the formalism
introduced by Ref. 1 is generalized for the general case of electrostatic
and/or electromagnetic waves propagating in a kappa plasma in any frequency
range and for arbitrary angles. An isotropic distribution is considered, but
the methods used here can be easily applied to more general anisotropic
distributions, such as the bi-kappa or product-bi-kappa.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics of Plasmas; added references for
section
The effective dielectric tensor for electromagnetic waves in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas and the proper formulation in the electrostatic limit
Collisional damping rates for plasma waves
The distinction between the plasma dynamics dominated by collisional
transport versus collective processes has never been rigorously addressed until
recently. A recent paper [Yoon et al., Phys. Rev. E 93, 033203 (2016)]
formulates for the first time, a unified kinetic theory in which collective
processes and collisional dynamics are systematically incorporated from first
principles. One of the outcomes of such a formalism is the rigorous derivation
of collisional damping rates for Langmuir and ion-acoustic waves, which can be
contrasted to the heuristic customary approach. However, the results are given
only in formal mathematical expressions. The present Brief Communication
numerically evaluates the rigorous collisional damping rates by considering the
case of plasma particles with Maxwellian velocity distribution function so as
to assess the consequence of the rigorous formalism in a quantitative manner.
Comparison with the heuristic ("Spitzer") formula shows that the accurate
damping rates are much lower in magnitude than the conventional expression,
which implies that the traditional approach over-estimates the importance of
attenuation of plasma waves by collisional relaxation process. Such a finding
may have a wide applicability ranging from laboratory to space and
astrophysical plasmas.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; Published in Physics of Plasmas, volume/Issue
23/6. Publisher: AIP Publishing LLC. Date: Jun 1, 2016. URL:
http://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4953802 Rights managed by AIP
Publishing LL
The oblique firehose instability in a bi-kappa magnetized plasma
In this work, we derive a dispersion equation that describes the excitation
of the oblique (or Alfv\'en) firehose instability in a plasma that contains
both electron and ion species modelled by bi-kappa velocity distribution
functions. The equation is obtained with the assumptions of low-frequency waves
and moderate to large values of the parallel (respective to the ambient
magnetic field) plasma beta parameter, but it is valid for any direction of
propagation and for any value of the particle gyroradius (or Larmor radius).
Considering values for the physical parameters typical to those found in the
solar wind, some solutions of the dispersion equation, corresponding to the
unstable mode, are presented. In order to implement the dispersion solver,
several new mathematical properties of the special functions occurring in a
kappa plasma are derived and included. The results presented here suggest that
the superthermal characteristic of the distribution functions leads to
reductions to both the maximum growth rate of the instability and of the
spectral range of its occurrence
Electrostatic waves in a Maxwellian dusty plasma with variable charge on dust particles
No difference in striatal dopamine transporter availability between active smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers using [123I]FP-CIT (DaTSCAN) and SPECT
Background: Mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathways play important roles in both the rewarding and conditioning effects of drugs. The dopamine transporter (DAT) is of central importance in regulating dopaminergic neurotransmission and in particular in activating the striatal D2-like receptors. Molecular imaging studies of the relationship between DAT availability/dopamine synthesis capacity and active cigarette smoking have shown conflicting results. Through the collaboration between 13 SPECT centres located in 10 different European countries, a database of FP-CIT-binding in healthy controls was established. We used the database to test the hypothesis that striatal DAT availability is changed in active smokers compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. Methods: A total of 129 healthy volunteers were included. Subjects were divided into three categories according to past and present tobacco smoking: (1) non-smokers (n = 64), (2) ex-smokers (n = 39) and (3) active smokers (n = 26). For imaging of the DAT availability, we used [123I]FP-CIT (DaTSCAN) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Data were collected in collaboration between 13 SPECT centres located in 10 different European countries. The striatal measure of DAT availability was analyzed in a multiple regression model with age, SPECT centre and smoking as predictor. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in DAT availability between the groups of active smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers (p = 0.34). Further, we could not demonstrate a significant association between striatal DAT and the number of cigarettes per day or total lifetime cigarette packages in smokers and ex-smokers. Conclusion: Our results do not support the hypothesis that large differences in striatal DAT availability are present in smokers compared to ex-smokers and healthy volunteers with no history of smoking
Effect of temperature anisotropy on various modes and instabilities for a magnetized non-relativistic bi-Maxwellian plasma
Using kinetic theory for homogeneous collisionless magnetized plasmas, we
present an extended review of the plasma waves and instabilities and discuss
the anisotropic response of generalized relativistic dielectric tensor and
Onsager symmetry properties for arbitrary distribution functions. In general,
we observe that for such plasmas only those electromagnetic modes whose
magnetic field perturbations are perpendicular to the ambient magneticeld,
i.e.,B1 \perp B0, are effected by the anisotropy. However, in oblique
propagation all modes do show such anisotropic effects. Considering the
non-relativistic bi-Maxwellian distribution and studying the relevant
components of the general dielectric tensor under appropriate conditions, we
derive the dispersion relations for various modes and instabilities. We show
that only the electromagnetic R- and L- waves, those derived from them and the
O-mode are affected by thermal anisotropies, since they satisfy the required
condition B1\perpB0. By contrast, the perpendicularly propagating X-mode and
the modes derived from it (the pure transverse X-mode and Bernstein mode) show
no such effect. In general, we note that the thermal anisotropy modifies the
parallel propagating modes via the parallel acoustic effect, while it modifies
the perpendicular propagating modes via the Larmor-radius effect. In oblique
propagation for kinetic Alfven waves, the thermal anisotropy affects the
kinetic regime more than it affects the inertial regime. The generalized fast
mode exhibits two distinct acoustic effects, one in the direction parallel to
the ambient magnetic field and the other in the direction perpendicular to it.
In the fast-mode instability, the magneto-sonic wave causes suppression of the
firehose instability. We discuss all these propagation characteristics and
present graphic illustrations
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