The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability

Schoeffler, K. M.; Loureiro, Nuno; Fonseca, Ricardo; Silva, L. O.

doi:10.1063/1.4946017

Cited by 41 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In particular, recent work has suggested the possibility of coupling with electron scale kinetic instabilities. 44,45 We note that for typical laser-ablated plasma conditions (e.g., at OMEGA or OMEGA EP 19,[24][25][26]40,41 ), where near the foils we have T e $ 100 eV and n e $ 10 21 À 10 22 cm À3 , the electron collisional mean free path is $0:03 À 0:3lm, which is of the order of or smaller than the electron skin depth. It is thus not clear whether electron scale instabilities can develop for such conditions.…”

Section: Description Of Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Particle acceleration in laser-driven magnetic reconnection

2017

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Particle acceleration induced by magnetic reconnection is thought to be a promising candidate for producing the nonthermal emissions associated with explosive phenomena such as solar flares, pulsar wind nebulae, and jets from active galactic nuclei. Laboratory experiments can play an important role in the study of the detailed microphysics of magnetic reconnection and the dominant particle acceleration mechanisms. We have used two-and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to study particle acceleration in high Lundquist number reconnection regimes associated with laser-driven plasma experiments. For current experimental conditions, we show that nonthermal electrons can be accelerated to energies more than an order of magnitude larger than the initial thermal energy. The nonthermal electrons gain their energy mainly from the reconnection electric field near the X points, and particle injection into the reconnection layer and escape from the finite system establish a distribution of energies that resembles a power-law spectrum. Energetic electrons can also become trapped inside the plasmoids that form in the current layer and gain additional energy from the electric field arising from the motion of the plasmoid. We compare simulations for finite and infinite periodic systems to demonstrate the importance of particle escape on the shape of the spectrum. Based on our findings, we provide an analytical estimate of the maximum electron energy and threshold condition for observing suprathermal electron acceleration in terms of experimentally tunable parameters. We also discuss experimental signatures, including the angular distribution of the accelerated particles, and construct synthetic detector spectra. These results open the way for novel experimental studies of particle acceleration induced by reconnection.

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Section: Description Of Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Particle acceleration in laser-driven magnetic reconnection

2017

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“…So we have shear induced vorticity in the plasma as well as a high Reynolds number, therefore localized magnetic fields are generated in the string's wake by the Biermann battery mechanism. In a two-fluid description of the plasma with massless electrons, the magnetic field evolution, as given by the Biermann battery mechanism is [19],…”

Section: Neutrino Currents In Moving Cosmic String Wakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutrino currents in wakes of cosmic strings

Sanyal

2020

Eur. Phys. J. C

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Neutrinos rotating around Abelian Higgs strings will generate a neutral current close to the string. As the string moves through the cosmic plasma, the velocity kick generated by the motion of the string will enhance the neutrino current in the wake region. The neutrino current density depends on its distance from the string and is oscillatory in nature. This leads to neutrino density gradients in the plasma. Such a flux of neutrinos with periodic density fluctuations will lead to electron currents in the plasma. The current will act like a cross-perturbation across the cosmic string wake. The perturbation as well as the high Reynolds number of the plasma will result in the generation of magnetic fields in the wake of the cosmic string.

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“…Recently, the Biermann battery has been investigated with fully self-consistent kinetic three-dimensional (3D) simulations [9,10], but a clear theoretical model for how the fully kinetic Biermann battery actually works in collisionless plasmas has not been fully presented. Such a model is presented here, explaining not only the kinetic Biermann battery, but also, more generally, the dynamical evolution of collisionless unmagnetized plasmas subject to background density and temperature gradients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Particularly, unique to this paper, we present a discussion of the onset of kinetic instabilities, driven by the temperature anisotropy, such as the Weibel instability [12], seen in Refs. [9,10], or instabilities that inhibit the heat flux [13,14] on time scales short compared to the collision time. This is relevant for a wide variety of settings, including astrophysical shocks and laser experiments with small collision rates, and addresses the low heat flux of cooling flows in galaxy clusters, which cannot be explained by collisional fluid models [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fully kinetic Biermann battery and associated generation of pressure anisotropy

2018

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The dynamical evolution of a fully kinetic, collisionless system with imposed background density and temperature gradients is investigated analytically. The temperature gradient leads to the generation of temperature anisotropy, with the temperature along the gradient becoming larger than that in the direction perpendicular to it. This causes the system to become unstable to pressure anisotropy driven instabilities, dominantly to the electron Weibel instability. When both density and temperature gradients are present and nonparallel to each other, we obtain a Biermann-like linear-in-time magnetic field growth. Accompanying particle-in-cell numerical simulations are shown to confirm our analytical results.

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The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability

Cited by 41 publications

References 30 publications

Particle acceleration in laser-driven magnetic reconnection

Particle acceleration in laser-driven magnetic reconnection

Neutrino currents in wakes of cosmic strings

Fully kinetic Biermann battery and associated generation of pressure anisotropy

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