TURBULENCE AND PROTON–ELECTRON HEATING IN KINETIC PLASMA

Journal Article · Wed Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/827/1/L7· OSTI ID:22654253

Matthaeus, William H; Parashar, Tulasi N; Wu, P. ^[1]; Wan, Minping ^[2]

---

1. Bartol Research Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
2. Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, South University of Science and Technology of China, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055 (China)

Analysis of particle-in-cell simulations of kinetic plasma turbulence reveals a connection between the strength of cascade, the total heating rate, and the partitioning of dissipated energy into proton heating and electron heating. A von Karman scaling of the cascade rate explains the total heating across several families of simulations. The proton to electron heating ratio increases in proportion to total heating. We argue that the ratio of gyroperiod to nonlinear turnover time at the ion kinetic scales controls the ratio of proton and electron heating. The proposed scaling is consistent with simulations.

• OSTI ID: 22654253
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 827, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ELECTRONS
GALAXIES
HEATING RATE
KINETICS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PARTICLES
PARTITION
PLASMA
PROTONS
SIMULATION
SOLAR WIND
TURBULENCE