On the multistream approach of relativistic Weibel instability. III. Comparison with full-kinetic Vlasov simulations

Journal Article · Thu Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4817752· OSTI ID:22227865

Ghizzo, A. ^[1]

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1. Institut Jean Lamour UMR 7163, Université de Lorraine, BP 239 F-54506 Vandoeuvre les Nancy (France)

The saturation of the Weibel instability in the relativistic regime is investigated within the Hamiltonian reduction technique based on the multistream approach developed in paper I in the linear case and in paper II for the nonlinear saturation. In this work, the study is compared with results obtained by full kinetic 1D2V Vlasov-Maxwell simulations based on a semi-Lagrangian technique. For a temperature anisotropy, qualitatively different regimes are realized depending on the excitation of the longitudinal (plasma) electric field, in contrast with the existing theories of the Weibel instability based on their purely transverse characters. The emphasis here is on gaining a better understanding of the nonlinear aspects of the Weibel instability. The multistream model offers an alternate way to make calculations or numerical experiments more tractable, when only a few moments of the velocity distribution of the plasma are considered.

• OSTI ID: 22227865
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 20; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ANISOTROPY
BOLTZMANN-VLASOV EQUATION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
EXCITATION
GAIN
HAMILTONIANS
LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION
MAXWELL EQUATIONS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
RELATIVISTIC PLASMA