Energy transfer and magnetic field generation via ion-beam driven instabilities in an electron-ion plasma

Journal Article · Mon Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3299325· OSTI ID:21347126

Park, Jaehong; Blackman, Eric G ^[1]; Chuang, Ren ^[1]; Xianglong, Kong ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States)
2. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

Whether an efficient collisionless temperature equilibration mechanism exists for a two-temperature ion-electron plasma, with T{sub i}>T{sub e}, is important for understanding astrophysical phenomena such as two-temperature accretion flows and collisionless shocks in supernova remnants or gamma-ray bursts. In this paper, counter-streaming ion beam-driven two-stream, Weibel (or filamentation), and oblique instabilities are studied using two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations as a possible plasma instability that could operate in such astrophysical objects. The PIC simulations show interplay among these instabilities and that distinct stages with different dominant modes occur during the nonlinear evolution period. Although the 2D results show stronger electron-ion coupling than the one-dimensional (1D) instabilities, it is still too weak to rule out existing two-temperature accretion solutions. The nonrelativistic quasilinear equations for the 1D Weibel plus 1D two-stream modes are numerically solved to compare the results with the 2D PIC simulations and qualitative similarities were found. The equations also show that the magnetic fields generated by the Weibel instability decay to zero in the end.

• OSTI ID: 21347126
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 17; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
BEAMS
COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS
COSMIC RADIATION
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
COUPLING
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRON-ION COUPLING
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY TRANSFER
FERMIONS
INSTABILITY
ION BEAMS
ION TEMPERATURE
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PHYSICS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
PRIMARY COSMIC RADIATION
RADIATIONS
SIMULATION
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS