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We present the first three-dimensional fully kinetic and electromagnetic simulations of the solar wind interaction with lunar crustal magnetic anomalies (LMAs). Using the implicit particle-in-cell code IPIC3D, we confirm that LMAs may indeed be strong enough to stand off the solar wind from directly impacting the lunar surface forming a mini-magnetosphere, as suggested by spacecraft observations and theory. In contrast to earlier magnetohydrodynamics and hybrid simulations, the fully kinetic nature of IPIC3D allows us to investigate the space charge effects and in particular the electron dynamics dominating the near-surface lunar plasma environment. We describe for the first time the interaction of a dipole model centered just below the lunar surface under plasma conditions such that only the electron population is magnetized. The fully kinetic treatment identifies electromagnetic modes that alter the magnetic field at scales determined by the electron physics. Driven by strong pressure anisotropies, the mini-magnetosphere is unstable over time, leading to only temporal shielding of the surface underneath. Future human exploration as well as lunar science in general therefore hinges on a better understanding of LMAs., QC 20140523

Kinetic simulations of magnetotail reconnection have revealed electromagnetic whistlers originating near the exhaust boundary and propagating into the inflow region. The whistler production mechanism is not a linear instability, but rather is Cerenkov emission of almost parallel whistlers from localized moving clumps of charge (finite-size quasiparticles) associated with nonlinear coherent electron phase space holes. Whistlers are strongly excited by holes without ever growing exponentially. In the simulation the whistlers are emitted in the source region from holes that accelerate down the magnetic separatrix towards the x line. The phase velocity of the whistlers upsilon(phi) in the source region is everywhere well matched to the hole velocity upsilon(H) as required by the Cerenkov condition. The simulation shows emission is most efficient near the theoretical maximum upsilon(phi) = half the electron Alfven speed, consistent with the new theoretical prediction that faster holes radiate more efficiently. While transferring energy to whistlers the holes lose coherence and dissipate over a few local ion inertial lengths. The whistlers, however, propagate to the x line and out over many 10's of ion inertial lengths into the inflow region of reconnection. As the whistlers pass near the x line they modulate the rate at which magnetic field lines reconnect., QC 20140818

We present a numerical investigation of the double-gradient mode, which is believed to be responsible for the magnetotail flapping oscillations the fast vertical oscillations of the Earth's magnetotail plasma sheet (quasiperiod similar to 100 - 200 s). It is known that this mode has an unstable solution in the region of the tailward-growing normal magnetic field component. The kink branch of the mode is the focus of our study. The instability is studied using the magnetotail near-equilibrium configuration, fixed by the approximate solution of the Grad-Shafranov equation. The linear three-dimensional numerical analysis is complemented with full 3-D MUD simulations. The results of our linearized MHD code agree with the theory, and the growth rate is found to be close to the peak value provided by an analytical estimate. Also, the eigenfunctions, calculated analytically, are very similar to the perturbations obtained numerically. The full 3D MHD simulations are initialized with the numerically relaxed magnetotail equilibrium, similar to the linear code initial condition. The calculations show that the double-gradient mode is excited in a region of small radii of the magnetic field lines curvature, which is in accordance with the analytical predictions. In contrast to the linearized MHD simulations, non-local interactions are involved; hence, the overall growth rate turns out to be close to the theoretical estimate averaged over the computational domain., QC 20190205

Five spacecraft-plasma models are used to simulate the interaction of a simplified geometry Solar Probe Plus (SPP) satellite with the space environment under representative solar wind conditions near perihelion. By considering similarities and differences between results obtained with different numerical approaches under well defined conditions, the consistency and validity of our models can be assessed. The impact on model predictions of physical effects of importance in the SPP mission is also considered by comparing results obtained with and without these effects. Simulation results are presented and compared with increasing levels of complexity in the physics of interaction between solar environment and the SPP spacecraft. The comparisons focus particularly on spacecraft floating potentials, contributions to the currents collected and emitted by the spacecraft, and on the potential and density spatial profiles near the satellite. The physical effects considered include spacecraft charging, photoelectron and secondary electron emission, and the presence of a background magnetic field. Model predictions obtained with our different computational approaches are found to be in agreement within 2% when the same physical processes are taken into account and treated similarly. The comparisons thus indicate that, with the correct description of important physical effects, our simulation models should have the required skill to predict details of satellite-plasma interaction physics under relevant conditions, with a good level of confidence. Our models concur in predicting a negative floating potential V-fl similar to -10V for SPP at perihelion. They also predict a "saturated emission regime" whereby most emitted photo-and secondary electron will be reflected by a potential barrier near the surface, back to the spacecraft where they will be recollected., QC 20140818

The kinetic features of secondary magnetic reconnection in a single flux rope undergoing internal kink instability are studied by means of three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Several signatures of secondary magnetic reconnection are identified in the plane perpendicular to the flux rope: a quadrupolar electron and ion density structure and a bipolar Hall magnetic field develop in proximity of the reconnection region. The most intense electric fields form perpendicularly to the local magnetic field, and a reconnection electric field is identified in the plane perpendicular to the flux rope. An electron current develops along the reconnection line, in the opposite direction of the electron current supporting the flux rope magnetic field structure. Along the reconnection line, several bipolar structures of the electric field parallel to the magnetic field occur, making the magnetic reconnection region turbulent. The reported signatures of secondary magnetic reconnection can help to localize magnetic reconnection events in space, astrophysical and fusion plasmas., QC 20140612

We perform three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection with multiple magnetic null points. Magnetic field energy conversion into kinetic energy is about five times higher than in traditional Harris sheet configuration. More than 85% of initial magnetic field energy is transferred to particle energy during 25 reversed ion cyclofrequencies. Magnetic reconnection in the cluster of null points evolves in three phases. During the first phase, ion beams are excited, then give part of their energy back to the magnetic field in the second phase. In the third phase, magnetic reconnection occurs in many small patches around the current channels formed along the stripes of a low magnetic field. Magnetic reconnection in null points essentially presents three-dimensional features, with no two-dimensional symmetries or current sheets., QC 20130902

The dynamics of a plasmoid chain is studied with three dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. The evolution of the system with and without a uniform guide field, whose strength is 1/3 the asymptotic magnetic field, is investigated. The plasmoid chain forms by spontaneous magnetic reconnection: the tearing instability rapidly disrupts the initial current sheet generating several small-scale plasmoids that rapidly grow in size coalescing and kinking. The plasmoid kink is mainly driven by the coalescence process. It is found that the presence of guide field strongly influences the evolution of the plasmoid chain. Without a guide field, a main reconnection site dominates and smaller reconnection regions are included in larger ones, leading to an hierarchical structure of the plasmoid-dominated current sheet. On the contrary in presence of a guide field, plasmoids have approximately the same size and the hierarchical structure does not emerge, a strong core magnetic field develops in the center of the plasmoid in the direction of the existing guide field, and bump-on-tail instability, leading to the formation of electron holes, is detected in proximity of the plasmoids.

The paper presents the detailed numerical investigation of the "double-gradient mode," which is believed to be responsible for the magnetotail flapping oscillations-the fast vertical (normal to the layer) oscillations of the Earth's magnetotail plasma sheet with a quasiperiod similar to 100-200 s. The instability is studied using the magnetotail near-equilibrium configuration. For the first time, linear three-dimensional numerical analysis is complemented with full 3-D MHD simulations. It is known that the "double-gradient mode" has unstable solutions in the region of the tailward growth of the magnetic field component, normal to the current sheet. The unstable kink branch of the mode is the focus of our study. Linear MHD code results agree with the theory, and the growth rate is found to be close to the peak value, provided by the analytical estimates. Full 3-D simulations are initialized with the numerically relaxed magnetotail equilibrium, similar to the linear code initial condition. The calculations show that current layer with tailward gradient of the normal component of the magnetic field is unstable to wavelengths longer than the curvature radius of the field line. The segment of the current sheet with the earthward gradient of the normal component makes some stabilizing effect (the same effect is registered in the linearized MHD simulations) due to the minimum of the total pressure localized in the center of the sheet. The overall growth rate is close to the theoretical double-gradient estimate averaged over the computational domain.

Massively parallel numerical simulations of magnetic reconnection are presented in this study. Electromagnetic full-particle implicit code iPIC3D is used to study the dynamics and 3-D evolution of reconnection outflows. Such features as Hall magnetic field, inflow and outflow, and diffusion region formation are very similar to 2-D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. In addition, it is well known that instabilities develop in the current flow direction or oblique directions. These modes could provide for anomalous resistivity and diffusive drag and can serve as additional proxies for magnetic reconnection. In our work, the unstable evolution of reconnection transient front structures is studied. Reconnection configuration in the absence of guide field is considered, and it is initialized with a localized perturbation aligned in the cross-tail direction. Our study suggests that the instabilities lead to the development of finger-like density structures on ion-electron hybrid scales. These structures are characterized by a rapid increase of the magnetic field, normal to the current sheet (Bz). A small decrease in the magnetic field component parallel to the reconnection X line and the component perpendicular to the current sheet is observed in the region ahead of the front. The instabilities form due to fact that the density gradient inside the front region is opposite to the direction of the acceleration Lorentz force. Such density structures may possibly further develop into larger-scale earthward flux transfer events during magnetotail reconnection. In addition, oscillations mainly in the magnetic and electric fields and the electron density are observed shortly before the arrival of the main front structure which is consistent with recent THEMIS observations.

A three-dimensional implicit particle-in-cell (iPIC3D) method implemented by S. Markidis et. al. in ["Multiscale simulations of plasma with iPIC3D", Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 80(2010), 1509-1519] allows time steps at magnetohydrodynamics time scale. The code requires the solution of two linear systems: A Poisson system related to divergence cleaning, and a system related to a second order formulation of Maxwell equation. In iPIC3D, the former is the most costly. To reduce the cost of solving the Poisson system, a parallel matrix assembly and partitioning method are implemented, and conjugate gradient and algebraic multigrid (AMG) solvers from the Hypre library are called. The scalability of AMG as a solver is studied for 1D and 3D partitionings and compared to that of CG., QC 20140626

We present the first results on the analysis of spacecraft charging with the implicit particle-in-cell code iPic3D, designed for running on massively parallel supercomputers. The numerical algorithm is presented, highlighting the implementation of the electrostatic solver and the immersed boundary algorithm; the latter which creates the possibility to handle complex spacecraft geometries. As a first step in the verification process, a comparison is made between the floating potential obtained with iPic3D and with Orbital Motion Limited theory for a spherical particle in a uniform stationary plasma. Second, the numerical model is verified for a CubeSat benchmark by comparing simulation results with those of PTetra for space environment conditions with increasing levels of complexity. In particular, we consider spacecraft charging from plasma particle collection, photoelectron and secondary electron emission. The influence of a background magnetic field on the floating potential profile near the spacecraft is also considered. Although the numerical approaches in iPic3D and PTetra are rather different, good agreement is found between the two models, raising the level of confidence in both codes to predict and evaluate the complex plasma environment around spacecraft., QC 20131209

Flux ropes are bundles of magnetic field wrapped around an axis. Many laboratory, space, and astrophysics processes can be represented using this idealized concept. Here, a massively parallel 3D kinetic simulation of a periodic flux rope undergoing the kink instability is studied. The focus is on the topology of the magnetic field and its geometric structures. The analysis considers various techniques such as Poincare maps and the quasi-separatrix layer (QSL). These are used to highlight regions with expansion or compression and changes in the connectivity of magnetic field lines and consequently to outline regions where heating and current may be generated due to magnetic reconnection. The present study is, to our knowledge, the first QSL analysis of a fully kinetic 3D particle in cell simulation and focuses the existing QSL method of analysis to periodic systems., QC 20131001

A novel adaptive technique for electromagnetic Particle In Cell (PIC) plasma simulations is presented here. Two main issues are identified as regards the development of the algorithm. First, the choice of the size of the particle shape function in progressively refined grids, with the decision to avoid both time-dependent shape functions and cumbersome particle-to-grid interpolation techniques, and, second, the necessity to comply with the strict stability constraints of the explicit PIC algorithm. The adaptive implementation presented responds to these demands with the introduction of a Multi Level Multi Domain (MLMD) system, where a cloud of self-similar domains is fully simulated with both fields and particles, and the use of an Implicit Moment PIC method as baseline algorithm for the adaptive evolution. Information is exchanged between the levels with the projection of the field information from the refined to the coarser levels and the interpolation of the boundary conditions for the refined levels from the coarser level fields. Particles are bound to their level of origin and are prevented from transitioning to coarser levels, but are repopulated at the refined grid boundaries with a splitting technique. The presented algorithm is tested against a series of simulation challenges., QC 20130325

The nonlinear evolution of collisionless plasmas is typically a multi-scale process where the energy is injected at large, fluid scales and dissipated at small, kinetic scales. Accurately modelling the global evolution requires to take into account the main micro-scale physical processes of interest. This is why comparison of different plasma models is today an imperative task aiming at understanding cross-scale processes in plasmas. We report here the first comparative study of the evolution of a magnetized shear flow, through a variety of different plasma models by using magnetohydrodynamic, Hall-MHD, two-fluid, hybrid kinetic and full kinetic codes. Kinetic relaxation effects are discussed to emphasize the need for kinetic equilibriums to study the dynamics of collisionless plasmas in non trivial configurations. Discrepancies between models are studied both in the linear and in the nonlinear regime of the magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, to highlight the effects of small scale processes on the nonlinear evolution of collisionless plasmas. We illustrate how the evolution of a magnetized shear flow depends on the relative orientation of the fluid vorticity with respect to the magnetic field direction during the linear evolution when kinetic effects are taken into account. Even if we found that small scale processes differ between the different models, we show that the feedback from small, kinetic scales to large, fluid scales is negligable in the nonlinear regime. This study show that the kinetic modeling validates the use of a fluid approach at large scales, which encourages the development and use of fluid codes to study the nonlinear evolution of magnetized fluid flows, even in the colisionless regime.

Using spectroscopic data, we support the possibility of suprathermal distributions of coronal ions by fitting the equivalent kappa functions to their emission line profiles. We fit different kappa and Gaussian model functions to line profiles of the strong Fe xv line at 284.16 Angstroms, across two large-field spectroscopic rasters taken in a solar active region. Both single- and double-component Gaussian models are applied, as well as two kappa models, one with a free width parameter allowing for and the other with a constrained width that precludes "microturbulence". We then compare the goodness of fit of the computed best fits for each model. The kappa distribution is a generalization, or superset, of the Maxwellian, so they are able to fit line profiles more precisely than a Gaussian. In most of the data, the best-fit kappa model produces much lower residuals across the profile than any single Gaussian and sometimes double Gaussian. Most importantly, the distribution of estimated kappa values is found to lie mostly in the low-kappa range, implying ion populations far from Maxwellian. Even when the width is removed as a free parameter of fit, the kappa model is still able to fit the data credibly, again with low best-fit values of kappa. We find the shape of the Fe xv line, in the vast majority of the data analyzed, to be indicative of a highly suprathermal ion population.

Particle-in-cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection with a guide field reveal for the first time the three dimensional features of the low density regions along the magnetic reconnection separatrices, the so-called cavities. It is found that structures with further lower density develop within the cavities. Because their appearance is similar to the rib shape, these formations are here called low density ribs. Their location remains approximately fixed in time and their density progressively decreases, as electron currents along the cavities evacuate them. They develop along the magnetic field lines and are supported by a strong perpendicular electric field that oscillates in space. In addition, bipolar parallel electric field structures form as isolated spheres between the cavities and the outflow plasma, along the direction of the low density ribs and of magnetic field lines., QC 20120515

The kinetic features of plasmoid chain formation and evolution are investigated by two dimensional Particlein-Cell simulations. Magnetic reconnection is initiated in multiple X points by the tearing instability. Plasmoids form and grow in size by continuously coalescing. Each chain plasmoid exhibits a strong out-of plane core magnetic field and an out-of-plane electron current that drives the coalescing process. The disappearance of the X points in the coalescence process are due to anti-reconnection, a magnetic reconnection where the plasma inflow and outflow are reversed with respect to the original reconnection flow pattern. Anti-reconnection is characterized by the Hall magnetic field quadrupole signature. Two new kinetic features, not reported by previous studies of plasmoid chain evolution, are here revealed. First, intense electric fields develop in-plane normally to the separatrices and drive the ion dynamics in the plasmoids. Second, several bipolar electric field structures are localized in proximity of the plasmoid chain. The analysis of the electron distribution function and phase space reveals the presence of counter-streaming electron beams, unstable to the two stream instability, and phase space electron holes along the reconnection separatrices., QC 20120326

Electron scale dynamics of magnetic reconnection separatrix jets is studied in this paper. Instabilities developing in directions both parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field are investigated. Implicit particle-in-cell simulations with realistic electron-to-ion mass ratio are complemented by a set of small scale high resolution runs having the separatrix force balance as the initial condition. A special numerical procedure is developed to introduce the force balance into the small scale runs. Simulations show the development of streaming instabilities and consequent formation of electron holes in the parallel direction. A new electron jet instability develops in the perpendicular direction. The instability is closely related to the electron MHD Kelvin-Helmholtz mode and is destabilized by a flow, perpendicular to magnetic field at the separatrix. Tearing instability of the separatrix electron jet is modulated strongly by the electron MHD Kelvin-Helmholtz mode., QC 20120626

In preparation for the MMS mission we ask the question: how common are bipolar signatures linked to the presence of electron holes along separatrices emanating from reconnection regions? To answer this question, we conduct massively parallel simulations for realistic conditions and for the hydrogen mass ratio in boxes larger than considered in similar previous studies. The magnetic field configuration includes both a field reversal and a out of plane guide field, as typical of many space situations. The guide field is varied in strength from low values (typical of the Earth magnetotail) to high values comparable to the in plane reconnecting field (as in the magnetopause). In all cases, along the separatrices a strong electron flow is observed, sufficient to lead to the onset of streaming instabilities and to form bipolar parallel electric field signatures. The presence of bipolar structures at all guide fields allows the control of the MMS mission to consider the presence of bipolar signatures as a general flag of the presence of a nearby reconnection site both in the nightside and in the dayside of the magnetosphere., Comment: 3 figures, To appear Geophys Res Lett

In the diesel particulate filters technology a key aspect is represented by the properties of the particulate matter that is collected inside their structure. The work presented is focused on the development of an innovative mathematical tool based on the particle-in-cell method (PIC) for the simulation of the soot distribution inside a single channel of a diesel particulate filter. The basic fluid dynamic equations are solved for the gas phase inside the channel using a novel technique based on the solution of the same set of equations everywhere in the system including the porous medium. This approach is presented as alternative to the more conventional methods of matching conditions across the boundary of the porous region where a Darcy-like flow is developed. The motion of the soot solid particles is instead described through a particle-by-particle approach based on Newton's equations of motion. The coupling between the dynamics of the gas and that of the soot particles, i.e. between these two sub-models, is performed through the implementation of the particle-in-cell technique. This model allows the detailed simulation of the deposition and compaction of the soot inside the filter channels and its characterization in terms of density, permeability and thickness. The model then represents a unique tool for the optimization of the design of diesel particulate filters. The details of the technique implementation and some paradigmatic examples will be shown.