Whistler instabilities from the interplay of electron anisotropies in space plasmas: A quasilinear approach
| Autor: | Marian Lazar, Shaaban Mohammed Shaaban Shaaban |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Whistler
Population WAVES FOS: Physical sciences CYCLOTRON INSTABILITY Electron Astronomy & Astrophysics 01 natural sciences Instability 010305 fluids & plasmas Physics - Space Physics 0103 physical sciences DISTRIBUTIONS Anisotropy education 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) Equipartition theorem High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) Physics education.field_of_study Science & Technology 1 AU CONSTRAINTS Astronomy and Astrophysics numerical [methods] Space Physics (physics.space-ph) Physics - Plasma Physics Computational physics Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) Thermalisation solar wind Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Space and Planetary Science instabilities SOLAR-WIND Physical Sciences HALO Physics::Space Physics Relaxation (physics) Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| Popis: | Recent statistical studies of observational data unveil relevant correlations between whistler fluctuations and the anisotropic electron populations present in space plasmas, e.g., solar wind and planetary magnetospheres. Locally, whistlers can be excited by two sources of free energy associated with anisotropic electrons, i.e., temperature anisotropies and beaming populations carrying the heat flux. However, these two sources of free energy and the resulting instabilities are usually studied independently preventing a realistic interpretation of their interplay. This paper presents the results of a parametric quasilinear study of the whistler instability cumulatively driven by two counter-drifting electron populations and their anisotropic temperatures. By comparison to individual regimes dominated either by beaming population or by temperature anisotropy, in a transitory regime the instability becomes highly conditioned by the effects of both these two sources of free energy. Cumulative effects stimulate the instability and enhance the resulting fluctuations, which interact with electrons and stimulate their diffusion in velocity space, leading to a faster and deeper relaxation of the beaming velocity associated with a core heating in perpendicular direction and a thermalization of the beaming electrons. In particular, the relaxation of temperature anisotropy to quasi-stable states below the thresholds conditions predicted by linear theory may explain the observations showing the accumulation of these states near the isotropy and equipartition of energy. accepted for publication at MNRAS |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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