Collisionless cooling of perpendicular electron temperature in the thermal quench of a magnetized plasma
Thermal quench of a nearly collisionless plasma against an isolated cooling boundary or region is an undesirable off-normal event in magnetic fusion experiments, but an ubiquitous process of cosmological importance in astrophysical plasmas. Parallel transport theory of ambipolar-constrained tail electron loss is known to predict rapid cooling of the parallel electron temperature $$T_{e\Vert}$$ although $$T_{e\Vert}$$ is difficult to diagnose in actual experiments. Instead direct experimental measurements can readily track the perpendicular electron temperature $$T_{e\bot}$$ via electron cyclotron emission. The physics underlying the observed fast drop in $$T_{e\bot}$$ requires a resolution. Here two collisionless mechanisms, dilutional cooling by infalling cold electrons and wave-particle interaction by two families of whistler instabilities, are shown to enable fast $$T_{e\bot}$$ cooling that closely tracks the mostly collisionless crash of $$T_{e\Vert}$$. These findings motivate both experimental validation and reexamination of a broad class of plasma cooling problems in laboratory, space, and astrophysical settings.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR). Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001; AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 2467381
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--23-33919
- Journal Information:
- Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN 2045-2322
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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