Coupling of an acoustic wave to shear motion due to viscous heating
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 (United States)
Viscous heating due to shear motion in a plasma can result in the excitation of a longitudinal acoustic wave, if the shear motion is modulated in time. The coupling mechanism is a thermal effect: time-dependent shear motion causes viscous heating, which leads to a rarefaction that can couple into a longitudinal wave, such as an acoustic wave. This coupling mechanism is demonstrated in an electrostatic three-dimensional (3D) simulation of a dusty plasma, in which a localized shear flow is initiated as a pulse, resulting in a delayed outward propagation of a longitudinal acoustic wave. This coupling effect can be profound in plasmas that exhibit localized viscous heating, such as the dusty plasma we simulated using parameters typical of the PK-4 experiment. We expect that a similar phenomenon can occur with other kinds of plasma waves.
- OSTI ID:
- 22600007
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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