| 1. |
- Pezzi, O., et al.
(författare)
-
Turbulence and particle energization in twisted flux ropes under solar-wind conditions
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 686
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The mechanisms regulating the transport and energization of charged particles in space and astrophysical plasmas are still debated. Plasma turbulence is known to be a powerful particle accelerator. Large-scale structures, including flux ropes and plasmoids, may contribute to confining particles and lead to fast particle energization. These structures may also modify the properties of the turbulent, nonlinear transfer across scales. Aims. We aim to investigate how large-scale flux ropes are perturbed and, simultaneously, how they influence the nonlinear transfer of turbulent energy toward smaller scales. We then intend to address how these structures affect particle transport and energization. Methods. We adopted magnetohydrodynamic simulations perturbing a large-scale flux rope in solar-wind conditions and possibly triggering turbulence. Then, we employed test-particle methods to investigate particle transport and energization in the perturbed flux rope. Results. The large-scale helical flux rope inhibits the turbulent cascade toward smaller scales, especially if the amplitude of the initial perturbations is not large (∼5%). In this case, particle transport is inhibited inside the structure. Fast particle acceleration occurs in association with phases of trapped motion within the large-scale flux rope.
|
|
| 2. |
- Trotta, D., et al.
(författare)
-
Three-dimensional modelling of the shock-turbulence interaction
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 525:2, s. 1856-1866
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The complex interaction between shocks and plasma turbulence is extremely important to address crucial features of energy conversion in a broad range of astrophysical systems. We study the interaction between a supercritical, perpendicular shock and pre-existing, fully developed plasma turbulence, employing a novel combination of magnetohydrodynamic and small-scale, hybrid-kinetic simulations where a shock is propagating through a turbulent medium. The variability of the shock front in the unperturbed case and for two levels of upstream fluctuations is addressed. We find that the behaviour of shock ripples, i.e. shock surface fluctuations with short (a few ion skin depths, di) wavelengths, is modified by the presence of pre-existing turbulence, which also induces strong corrugations of the shock front at larger scales. We link this complex behaviour of the shock front and the shock downstream structuring with the proton temperature anisotropies produced in the shock-turbulence system. Finally, we put our modelling effort in the context of spacecraft observations, elucidating the role of novel cross-scale, multispacecraft measurements in resolving shock front irregularities at different scales. These results are relevant for a broad range of astrophysical systems characterized by the presence of shock waves interacting with plasma turbulence.
|
|
| 3. |
- Pezzi, O., et al.
(författare)
-
Dissipation measures in weakly collisional plasmas
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 505:4, s. 4857-4873
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The physical foundations of the dissipation of energy and the associated heating in weakly collisional plasmas are poorly understood. Here, we compare and contrast several measures that have been used to characterize energy dissipation and kinetic-scale conversion in plasmas by means of a suite of kinetic numerical simulations describing both magnetic reconnection and decaying plasma turbulence. We adopt three different numerical codes that can also include interparticle collisions: the fully kinetic particle-in-cell VPIC, the fully kinetic continuum Gkeyll, and the Eulerian Hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell (HVM) code. We differentiate between (i) four energy-based parameters, whose definition is related to energy transfer in a fluid description of a plasma, and (ii) four distribution function-based parameters, requiring knowledge of the particle velocity distribution function. There is an overall agreement between the dissipation measures obtained in the PIC and continuum reconnection simulations, with slight differences due to the presence/absence of secondary islands in the two simulations. There are also many qualitative similarities between the signatures in the reconnection simulations and the self-consistent current sheets that form in turbulence, although the latter exhibits significant variations compared to the reconnection results. All the parameters confirm that dissipation occurs close to regions of intense magnetic stresses, thus exhibiting local correlation. The distribution function-based measures show a broader width compared to energy-based proxies, suggesting that energy transfer is co-localized at coherent structures, but can affect the particle distribution function in wider regions. The effect of interparticle collisions on these parameters is finally discussed.
|
|
| 4. |
- Vasconez, Christian L., et al.
(författare)
-
Local and global properties of energy transfer in models of plasma turbulence
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Journal of Plasma Physics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0022-3778 .- 1469-7807. ; 87:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The nature of the turbulent energy transfer rate is studied using direct numerical simulations of weakly collisional space plasmas. This is done comparing results obtained from hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell simulations of collisionless plasmas, Hall magnetohydrodynamics and Landau fluid models reproducing low-frequency kinetic effects, such as the Landau damping. In this turbulent scenario, estimates of the local and global scaling properties of different energy channels are obtained using a proxy of the local energy transfer. This approach provides information on the structure of energy fluxes, under the assumption that the turbulent cascade transfers most of the energy that is then dissipated at small scales by various kinetic processes in these kinds of plasmas.
|
|
