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Turbulent transport in magnetically confined fusion plasma has conventionally been analyzed at the ion gyroradius scale based on the microturbulence theory. However, ion-scale turbulence analysis sometimes fails to predict the turbulent transport flux observed experimentally. Microturbulence at the electron gyroradius scale and cross-scale interactions between disparate-scale turbulences are possible mechanisms to resolve this issue. This overview discusses the recent progress in multiscale turbulence studies and presents future perspectives from recent experimental, theoretical, and numerical investigations. The following aspects are highlighted: (1) the importance of electron-scale effects in experiments, (2) the physical mechanisms of cross-scale interactions, (3) modeling electron-scale effects in quasilinear transport models, and (4) the impacts of cross-scale interactions on burning plasmas. Understanding multiscale turbulence is necessary to improve performance prediction and explore optimal operations for future burning plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perform a novel linear simulation of the feedback instability by applying a gyrokinetic model to the magnetosphere, where the geomagnetic field is modeled by a dipole magnetic field. In order to avoid huge numerical calculation costs, the effect of the fluctuating mirror force is neglected. It is found that kinetic effects, such as the finite Larmor radius effect and the electron Landau damping, strongly stabilize the feedback instability and form a peak in the perpendicular wave number spectrum of the growth rate. During the linear growth, it is observed that electron free energy has a much larger value than the electromagnetic field perturbation energy. Since such large electron free energy may lead to electron heating and acceleration, it is important to understand its generation mechanism. Analyses based on the energy conservation reveal that the coupling of the non-uniformity of the equilibrium fields along the geomagnetic field and the fluctuating electron distribution gives rise to thermodynamic power generating the electron free energy. A fine velocity space structure around an average Alfvén velocity of the fluctuating electron distribution mainly contributes to drive the thermodynamic power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a nonlocal gyrokinetic theory for the drift‐mirror mode in high‐β $\beta $ anisotropic plasmas. Here, β $\beta $ represents the ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure. The equilibrium distribution is established self‐consistently via guiding‐center Hamiltonian theory. To keep the nonuniformity and finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects on an equal footing, we derive the three‐field nonlocal eigenmode equations in Fourier space under the assumption of weak nonuniformity. It is found that the drift‐mirror mode is essentially a dissipative instability confined within the potential well due to the FLR effect. Numerical analyses demonstrate that the drift‐mirror mode originates from the coupling between shear Alfvén and mirror branch, where the ion‐sound wave component is negligible. Furthermore, the β $\beta $ threshold of this nonlocal drift‐mirror mode is significantly lower than that of the conventional drift‐mirror mode. Plain Language Summary: The drift‐mirror instability has been intensively investigated in space physics. It can be destabilized by pressure anisotropy in magnetized plasmas and result in the formation of the cavity across the field lines where the mode is confined. In this study, we investigate the linear properties of the nonlocal drift‐mirror mode by employing the electromagnetic gyrokinetic theory. The nonuniform equilibrium is self‐consistently established, with both magnetic and plasma inhomogeneities taken into account on the equal footing. An eigenmode system describing the nonlocal drift‐mirror mode is then derived in Fourier space. It is found that the drift‐mirror mode arises from the coupling between the shear Alfvén branch and the mirror branch. The ion‐sound wave branch, however, is negligible. Additionally, further numerical analyses demonstrate that the kinetic drift‐mirror mode is more easily excited than the mirror mode in uniform and fluid limits. These results provide a deeper understanding of the drift‐mirror mode. Key Points: By employing the nonlocal electromagnetic gyrokinetic theory, we present a self‐consistent description of the drift‐mirror modeIt is showed that the drift‐mirror mode is a dissipative instability confined within the potential well arising from the FLR effectThe drift‐mirror mode originates from the coupling between shear Alfvén and mirror branch, where the ion‐sound wave component is subdominant [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that under solar coronal conditions, drift waves may contribute to coronal heating. Specific properties of the drift waves to be expected in the solar corona have, however, not yet been determined using more advanced numerical models. We investigate the linear properties of density-gradient-driven drift waves in the solar coronal plasma using gyrokinetic ion–electron simulations with the gyrokinetic code Gene, solving the Vlasov–Maxwell equations in five dimensions assuming a simple slab geometry. We determine the frequencies and growth rates of the coronal density gradient-driven drift waves with changing plasma parameters, such as the electron β , the density gradient, the magnetic shear, and additional temperature gradients. To investigate the influence of the finite Larmor radius effect on the growth and structure of the modes, we also compare the gyrokinetic simulation results to those obtained from drift-kinetics. In most of the investigated conditions, the drift wave has positive growth rates that increase with increasing density gradient and decreasing β. In the case of increasing magnetic shear, we find that from a certain point, the growth rate reaches a plateau. Depending on the considered reference environment, the frequencies and growth rates of these waves lie on the order of 0.1 mHz–1 Hz. These values correspond to the observed solar wind density fluctuations near the Sun detected by WISPR, currently of unexplained origin. As a next step, nonlinear simulations are required to determine the expected fluctuation amplitudes and the plasma heating resulting from this mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the symmetry of electrical potential, we model plasma transport in the edge region of a toroidal device with two spatial dimensions (2D) and three coordinates for velocities (3V) using a Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code. A twodimensional magnetic field is applied, including poloidal and toroidal components, which are periodic in the poloidal direction. We discover relationships between the magnetic gradient drift and potential formation using PIC simulation, which has not been captured in other numerical models. We find that the inverse aspect ratio influences the asymmetry of the potential in an axisymmetric magnetic configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the partitioning of turbulent energy between ions and electrons in weakly collisional plasmas is crucial for the accurate interpretation of observations and modelling of various astrophysical phenomena. Many such plasmas are 'imbalanced', wherein the large-scale energy input is dominated by Alfvénic fluctuations propagating in a single direction. In this paper, we demonstrate that when strongly-magnetised plasma turbulence is imbalanced, nonlinear conservation laws imply the existence of a critical value of the electron plasma beta (the ratio of the thermal to magnetic pressures) that separates two dramatically different types of turbulence in parameter space. For betas below the critical value, the free energy injected on the largest scales is able to undergo a familiar Kolmogorov-type cascade to small scales where it is dissipated, heating electrons. For betas above the critical value, the system forms a 'helicity barrier' that prevents the cascade from proceeding past the ion Larmor radius, causing the majority of the injected free energy to be deposited into ion heating. Physically, the helicity barrier results from the inability of the system to adjust to the disparity between the perpendicular-wavenumber scalings of the free energy and generalised helicity below the ion Larmor radius; restoring finite electron inertia can annul, or even reverse, this disparity, giving rise to the aforementioned critical beta. We relate this physics to the 'dynamic phase alignment' mechanism (that operates under yet lower beta conditions and in pair plasmas), and characterise various other important features of the helicity barrier, including the nature of the nonlinear wavenumber-space fluxes, dissipation rates, and energy spectra. The existence of such a critical beta has important implications for heating, as it suggests that the dominant recipient of the turbulent energy, ions or electrons, can depend sensitively on the characteristics of the plasma at large scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We learn the consequences of finite ion Larmor radius (FLR) corrections, finite electron inertia, Hall current and radiative heat-loss function on the Jean's-gravitational instability of an infinite homogeneous, viscous plasma integrating the impacts of finite electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity and permeability. A general dispersion relation is derived by means of the normal mode analysis method with the assistance of linearized perturbation equations of the problem. We find that the original Jeans criterion of gravitational instability is modified into the radiative instability criterion by the inclusion of thermal conductivity and radiative heat-loss function. The finite electrical resistivity eliminates the impact of the magnetic field and the viscosity of the medium eliminates the impact of FLR from radiative instability. The Hall parameter has no impact on the transverse mode of propagation. Numerical calculations demonstrate the stabilizing impact of temperature-dependent heat-loss function, FLR corrections and the destabilizing impact of density-dependent heat-loss function, finite electron inertia on the Jean's-gravitational instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproducing fast-ion enhanced fusion rates from ion-cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) in tokamaks requires the self-consistent coupling of a full-wave solver and a Fokker–Planck solver, which evolves multiple simultaneously resonant ion species. We introduce a new self-consistent model that iterates the TORIC full-wave solver with the CQL3D Fokker–Planck solver using the integrated plasma simulator (IPS). This model evolves the bounce-averaged ion distribution functions in both parallel and perpendicular velocity-space with a quasilinear radio frequency (RF) diffusion operator valid in the ion finite Larmor radius (FLR) limit and the RF electric fields with the resultant non-Maxwellian FLR dielectric tensor. This produces non-Maxwellian ICRH simulations that are fully self-consistent, fast, and interoperable with integrated modeling frameworks, such as TRANSP/GACODE/IPS-FASTRAN. We demonstrate our model's capabilities by validating it against experimental data in Alcator C-Mod. We then perform the first RF heating simulations of SPARC using self-consistent non-Maxwellian ion distributions to investigate the potential to enhance fusion rates using ion cyclotron resonance heating generated fast ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the applied voltage and magnetic field on the defining slot in focusing and energy distribution of the primary filament electron beam was studied theoretically. In this work, SIMION 8.1 software was used to determine the best operational conditions for focusing and the distribution of the electron beam in the ion source system. Furthermore, the Larmor radius on the slot was calculated in two dimensions for different values of magnetic flux density. The results showed that the values of flux density and slot voltage play an effective role in improving the dimensions of beam spot and energy distribution in the source. The dimensions of beam spot were reduced by about 71% at voltage value of slot 75 volt and flux density 780 G. In addition; the kinetic energy distribution for electrons were computed at different magnetic flux and obtaining a homogeneous beam energy. The results of this research support the calculations of plasma source designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomalous transport of multi-species plasma is considered with the generalized Hasegawa–Wakatani model [A. R. Knyazev and S. I. Krasheninnikov, Phys. Plasmas 31, 012502 (2024)] further extended to incorporate the Finite Larmor Radius (FLR) effects. By introducing the "associated" enstrophy, it is shown that with no FLR effects (where anomalous transport of all ion species is described as a transport of passive scalars in the turbulent fields of the electrostatic potential and electron density fluctuations) the fluctuating densities of ion species converge to the state where they are linearly proportional to electron density and vorticity fluctuations, which confirm previous numerical findings of [A. R. Knyazev and S. I. Krasheninnikov, Phys. Plasmas 31, 012502 (2024)]. However, in contrast to the "cold" ion approximation, with the FLR effects included, both the plasma turbulence and the dynamics of all ion species become interconnected. Therefore, for simplicity, the FLR effects in this work were considered only for a small "trace" impurity fraction. It is found that for light (neon) "trace" impurity, the FLR effects reduce both anomalous flux and density fluctuations. However, for heavy (tungsten) "trace" impurity, the FLR effects exhibit non-monotonic impact on anomalous transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classical drift-fluid (modified) Hasegawa–Wakatani model for quasi-three-dimensional resistive drift wave turbulence in magnetized plasmas is introduced into a gyrofluid model including consistent finite Larmor radius effects. The transition from a turbulence dominated to a strong zonal flow state through variation of the dissipative coupling strength is re-visited and characterized for warm ions. The resulting zonal flow states show a dependence on initial conditions and intermediate temporary changes of parameters, and feature characteristics of hysteresis, such as longer time scales for the decay of zonal flow states into turbulence than for the formation of flows out of turbulence. Zonal flows in warm ion plasmas are also shown to be able to spontaneously merge into flow states with smaller radial mode number and higher flow energy in simulations with long run times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-density hydrogen plasma with a plasma density higher than 1010 cm−3 is produced by a radio-frequency magnetized capacitively coupled discharge using a hollow cathode, i.e., a cylindrical hole inside the powered electrode surrounded by eight cylindrical neodymium magnets. The magnetic field is calculated to discuss the electron magnetization, i.e., the Hall parameter and Larmor radius of electrons. It is found that for 3 Pa of hydrogen gas pressure the maximum of plasma density estimated from the ion saturation current measured by a Langmuir probe at the center of the hollow trench, which is surrounded by the magnets, is approximately 1.7 times higher than that without the magnets. The addition of magnets results in an expansion of the high-density plasma region inside the trench. The uniformity of the radial profile of the plasma density is better in the presence of the magnets than that without the magnets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the Vlasov‐Boltzmann equation, we derive corrections to the quasi linear Fokker‐Planck pitch angle scattering coefficient caused by a non‐uniformity of the background magnetic field. Integration of the perturbed particle distribution function is performed along a modified unperturbed trajectory that takes into account the effects of focusing and mirroring on pitch angle and gyrophase. We calculate the changes to the quasi‐linear scattering rate owing to a variations in the field strength and the gyrophase drift that affects the resonance between particles and magnetic fluctuations. It is shown that the scattering coefficient has an oscillating behavior in pitch angle when the focusing lengthscale is comparable to the correlation length of the turbulence and the particle's Larmor radius. The applicability of analytic results are demonstrated with a simple model of charged particles trapped in a magnetic field of a planet. It is suggested that the pitch angle diffusion coefficient could become negative for the case of very strong focusing. Key Points: Energetic particle transport in inhomogeneous turbulence is investigatedMagnetic focusing has a profound effect on energetic particle scattering in space plasmasStrong focusing could lead to particle clustering instead of diffusion [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The All ORders Spectral Algorithm (AORSA) wave equation solver by Jaeger (Jaeger et al 2001 Phys. Plasmas 8 1573) solves the integro-differential wave equation relevant for the radio frequency (RF) domain and for fusion-relevant conditions in tokamaks or stellarators, retaining all finite Larmor radius corrections by substituting the continuous Fourier integrals by a sum over a discrete set of modes. Its strength is also its weakness: the simplicity of the method results in significant computational effort, a full matrix needing to be inverted to solve the associated linear system. Based on the notion that modes are gradually more independent if their eigenvalues differ, the present paper proposes a straightforward numerical method to partly alleviate this need, allowing to substitute the full system matrix by a banded one. The adopted method can be applied to a wide variety of equations. A few 1D examples—of relevance for solving the wave equation in the RF domain of frequencies—are provided: the tunneling equation is used to illustrate the potential of the method, and the all-FLR wave equation (retaining all Finite Larmor Radius corrections in the dielectric response) adopted by Jaeger is solved comparing the solutions found to those based on simpler models (a cold plasma and a 'tepid plasma' - i.e. a kinetic model truncated at zero order in Larmor radius—description). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the mass dependency of the high-wavenumber turbulence, which occurs at scales smaller than the ion effective Larmor radius, in a partially magnetized plasma column. In this system, two different types of fluctuations were observed: one exhibiting a coherent discrete spectrum, while the other displaying a broadband continuous spectrum. The phase velocities of both types showed a similar mass dependency, approximately matching the ion sound velocity or electron diamagnetic drift velocity. Additionally, we found that the discrete spectrum has a peak interval frequency comparable to the ion cyclotron frequency, which is consistent with ion cyclotron ranges of fluctuations, including ion Bernstein waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the symmetry of electrical potential, we model plasma transport in the edge region of a toroidal device with two spatial dimensions (2D) and three coordinates for velocities (3V) using a Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code. A two-dimensional magnetic field is applied, including poloidal and toroidal components, which are periodic in the poloidal direction. We discover relationships between the magnetic gradient drift and potential formation using PIC simulation, which has not been captured in other numerical models. We find that the inverse aspect ratio influences the asymmetry of the potential in an axisymmetric magnetic configuration.

Collisionless charged particle motion and its transport in the two-wire model (TWM) with no axial magnetic fields is investigated numerically. The TWM configuration contains a magnetic X-point, and single particle motions in such a field have two conserved quantities: the total kinetic energy and the base field line value which is a quantity derived from the axial canonical momentum. As gyrating particles travel along the field lines, they may reach near the X-point region where the magnetic moment, the first adiabatic invariant, can be occasionally shifted due to a large gradient of the field. When the magnetic moment becomes large, resulting in a large Larmor radius, particles probabilistically cross the X-point to migrate to the opposite side of the TWM configuration. These phenomena are investigated with single particle simulations. We find that the statistical behaviour of the seemingly chaotic magnetic moment shifts are completely determined by the two aforementioned conserved quantities, and also that there exists a threshold energy, determined by the base field line value, allowing only particles with a higher energy to cross the separatrix and migrate. It is found that the crossing time is distributed exponentially, and that the migration confinement time, which is the average crossing time, is shorter for particles with a base field line closer to the separatrix and a higher energy. We provide an empirical expression, derived with the simulations, for estimating the collisionless migration confinement time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-field gyrofluid model including ion finite Larmor radius (FLR) corrections, magnetic fluctuations along the ambient field, and electron inertia is used to study two-dimensional reconnection in a low βe collisionless plasma, in a plane perpendicular to the ambient field. Both moderate and large values of the ion-to-electron temperature ratio τ are considered. The linear growth rate of the tearing instability is computed for various values of τ, confirming the convergence to reduced electron magnetohydrodynamics predictions in the large τ limit. Comparisons with analytical estimates in several limit cases are also presented. The nonlinear dynamics leads to a fully developed turbulent regime that appears to be sensitive to the value of the parameter τ. For τ = 100, strong large-scale velocity shears trigger Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, leading to the propagation of the turbulence through the separatrices, together with the formation of eddies of size of the order of the electron skin depth. In the τ = 1 regime, the vortices are significantly smaller and their accurate description requires that electron FLR effects be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intracluster medium of galaxy clusters is an extremely hot and diffuse, nearly collisionless plasma, which hosts dynamically important magnetic fields of ∼ μ G strength. Seed magnetic fields of much weaker strength of astrophysical or primordial origin can be present in the intracluster medium. In collisional plasmas, which can be approximated in the magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) limit, the turbulent dynamo mechanism can amplify weak seed fields to strong dynamical levels efficiently by converting turbulent kinetic energy into magnetic energy. However, the viability of this mechanism in weakly collisional or completely collisionless plasma is much less understood. In this study, we explore the properties of the collisionless turbulent dynamo using three-dimensional hybrid-kinetic particle-in-cell simulations. We explore the properties of the collisionless turbulent dynamo in the kinematic regime for different values of the magnetic Reynolds number, Rm, initial magnetic-to-kinetic energy ratio, (E mag/ E kin)i, and initial Larmor ratio, (r Larmor/ L box)i, i.e. the ratio of the Larmor radius to the size of the turbulent system. We find that in the 'un-magnetized' regime, (r Larmor/ L box)i > 1, the critical magnetic Reynolds number for the dynamo action Rmcrit ≈ 107 ± 3. In the 'magnetized' regime, (r Larmor/ L box)i ≲ 1, we find a marginally higher Rmcrit = 124 ± 8. We find that the growth rate of the magnetic energy does not depend on the strength of the seed magnetic field when the initial magnetization is fixed. We also study the distribution and evolution of the pressure anisotropy in the collisionless plasma and compare our results with the MHD turbulent dynamo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A generalized kinetic equation for the equilibrium distribution function in a finite beta, arbitrary tokamak plasma is derived. The equation is correct to second order in ρ / L (ρ is the particle Larmor radius and L is the system size). Resolving the finite Larmor radius length scales with no restriction on the ratio of poloidal to total equilibrium magnetic field, B ϑ / B , it generalizes the drift kinetic theory of Hazeltine [Phys. Plasmas 15, 77 (1973)] to the limit of B ϑ / B ∼ 1 (e.g., to ensure validity for spherical tokamaks). Two cases are considered. The first provides the equilibrium distribution function, consistent with the generalized gyrokinetic formalism of Dudkovskaia et al. [Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 65, 045010 (2023)], derived specifically to capture neoclassical equilibrium currents in the gyrokinetic stability analyses in strong gradient regions. The second assumes short length scales in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field, which can occur as a result of small coherent magnetic structures in the plasma, such as neoclassical tearing mode magnetic islands close to threshold. This then extends the drift island equations of Dudkovskaia et al. [Nucl. Fusion 63, 016020 (2023)] for the plasma response to magnetic islands to a spherical tokamak plasma configuration. Resolving ρ ∼ ρ ϑ (or B ϑ ∼ B), where ρ ϑ is the particle poloidal Larmor radius, is also expected to influence calculations of the magnetic island propagation frequency and the associated contributions to the island onset conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of non-flat profiles on magnetic island is studied for the first time through gyrokinetic simulations alongside a simplified Lagrangian model. We have identified that inside a magnetic island, the non-flatness of density and temperature profiles is controlled by a dimensionless parameter α ≡ w * s ̂ ϵ / q ρ * , which is a function of normalized island width w * = w / a 0 , magnetic shear s ̂ , inverse aspect ratio ϵ = a 0 / R , safety factor q, and normalized gyroradius ρ * = ρ / a 0 . The gyroradius ρ * dependence of the control parameter α leads to a species-selective transition of profiles from flat to concave only for electrons having high α ∼ O (1). The finding elucidates that electron profiles tend to increasingly deviate from the flat state for a larger magnetic island, in contrast to the conventional wisdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jovian magnetosphere is highly dynamic, influenced by both solar wind and internal processes associated with the rapid planetary rotation and Io's volcanic activities. Accompanying the mass and energy circulations driven by the magnetospheric dynamics, the magnetic configuration also changes dramatically. One of the crucial parameters to characterize the magnetic configuration is magnetic field line curvature (FLC), which generally describes how stretched the field line is. The curvature is pivotal to influence particle behaviors, for example, pitch angle scattering which may lead to auroral particle precipitation. In this work, a method is proposed to investigate the real‐time magnetic FLC in Jovian current sheet using the magnetic field data from the Juno spacecraft. The results indicate that the FLC scattering of ions and relativistic electrons are common in Jovian magnetosphere, providing a crucial insight to understand the particle behaviors. Plain Language Summary: Both the Earth and the Jupiter have intrinsic magnetic field. When the planetary magnetic field interacts with the solar wind, a region called magnetosphere is formed. Particle behaviors in different planetary systems are different, due to the different magnetospheric dynamics. The curvature of magnetic field, describing the stretch level of a magnetic field line, is a basic parameter to describe a planetary space system, and it can significantly influence particle behaviors, for example, to scatter the magnetospheric particles to planetary atmosphere, causing auroral emissions. In this work, we proposed a method to calculate the magnetic field line curvature (FLC) near the equatorial plane inside the Jupiter's magnetosphere using Juno data set, for the first time to provide a global picture on the magnetic FLC. By comparing with the radius of particles' gyration motions, we suggest that ions and electrons can be strongly scattered by the magnetic FLC. We believe that the results in this study provide useful information on the different particle behaviors between the terrestrial system and the Jovian system. Key Points: We proposed a method to investigate the magnetic field line curvature (FLC) in Jupiter's current sheet using data from Juno data set50 events are selected by specific criteria. The magnetic FLC and different particles' Larmor radius are investigatedThe FLC will scatter ions and relativistic electrons as a potential cause of auroral precipitation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulations of plasma turbulence in a linear plasma device configuration are presented. These simulations are based on a simplified version of the gyrokinetic (GK) model proposed by Frei et al. [J. Plasma Phys. 86, 905860205 (2020)], where the full-F distribution function is expanded on a velocity-space polynomial basis allowing us to reduce its evolution to the solution of an arbitrary number of fluid-like equations for the expansion coefficients, denoted as the gyro-moments (GM). By focusing on the electrostatic and neglecting finite Larmor radius effects, a full-F GM hierarchy equation is derived to evolve the ion dynamics, which includes a nonlinear Dougherty collision operator, localized sources, and Bohm sheath boundary conditions. An electron fluid Braginskii model is used to evolve the electron dynamics, coupled to the full-F ion GM hierarchy equation via a vorticity equation where the Boussinesq approximation is used. A set of full-F turbulent simulations are then performed using the parameters of the LArge Plasma Device (LAPD) experiments with different numbers of ion GMs and different values of collisionality. The ion distribution function is analyzed illustrating the convergence properties of the GM approach. In particular, we show that higher-order GMs are damped by collisions in the high-collisional regime relevant to LAPD experiments. The GM results are then compared with those from two-fluid Braginskii simulations, finding qualitative agreement in the time-averaged profiles and statistical turbulent properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with high-k modes of the ion cyclotron emission (ICE)—the modes with frequencies close to ion cyclotron harmonics and wave numbers well exceeding those of fast magnetoacoustic modes (FMM). These modes exist due to finite Larmor radius of the ions. They are responsible for the ICE recently observed in the DIII-D tokamak [N. A. Crocker et al., Nucl. Fusion 62, 026023 (2022)]. The work is aimed at knowing the radial structure of high-k eigenmodes. Its analysis is relied on a comprehensive study carried out by employing a general dispersion equation for traveling waves, which allowed to group modes and determine conditions of their existence. Differential equations for various eigenmodes (standing waves) were obtained and analyzed. In particular, electrostatic modes and electromagnetic modes with various ratios of the longitudinal phase velocity to the electron thermal velocity were considered. A numerical code solving these equations was developed. It is found that high-k modes with sufficiently large poloidal mode numbers are located at the plasma periphery, and their amplitudes in the plasma core are very small. It is concluded that high-k modes are not an exceptional case, although presumably FMMs can explain most ICE experiments. They exist in plasmas with various magnitudes of β, representing different wave branches associated with finite Larmor radius of the ions. The mentioned experiment on DIII-D is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lower hybrid waves (LHWs) are plasma waves commonly observed within the foreshock transient environment. Using Magnetospheric Multiscale in situ measurements, we present a statistical analysis of LHWs regarding their spatial distribution, wave properties, occurrence rate, and potential impact on plasmas at the density boundaries of foreshock transients. LHWs are mostly localized at the low‐density side of the boundaries, with a typical wave electric field below 2 mV/m. The occurrence rate of LHWs decreases as the density gradient length scale (Ln) normalized to the ion gyroradius (ρi) increases and the plasma beta (β) increases. This dependence of the wave occurrence is consistent with the linear growth rate of LHWs. The occurrence rate of LHWs exhibits a preference for conditions characterized by Ln/ρi < 3 and β < 3. In the case of a strong gradient (Ln/ρi ≲ 0.5), the occurrence rate exceeds 0.2. These findings provide valuable statistical evidence shedding light on the average behavior of LHWs within foreshock transients. Plain Language Summary: Lower hybrid waves (LHWs) are plasma waves commonly observed at plasma boundaries, arising naturally at the compressional boundaries of foreshock transients. In this study, we provide a statistical study of the spatial distribution, wave properties, occurrence rate, and potential impact on plasmas of LHWs at the compressional boundaries within foreshock transients. The LHWs are more likely to occur at the low‐density side of the foreshock transients' boundary. The high occurrence rate of LHWs is characterized by conditions of Ln/ρi < 3 and β < 3. Key Points: Properties of lower hybrid waves (LHWs) within the density boundaries of foreshock transient are statistically studiedLHWs are more likely to occur at the low‐density side of the foreshock transient boundariesThe high occurrence rate of LHWs is characterized by conditions of Ln/ρi < 3 and β < 3 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectral transition between continuous and discrete spectra has been observed in high-wavenumber turbulence excitation experiments. The transition appeared in neutral gas scanning, which shows that continuous spectra dominate at low gas pressures and discrete spectra dominate at high gas pressures. Both spectra have well smaller spatial scale than the ion effective Larmor radius. The discrete spectra have 6–11 peaks and maximum peak values at 4th or 5th peak. Correlation length analysis reveals that the continuous component is turbulent and the discrete component is coherent. The bicoherence analysis shows that the turbulent spectra have finite nonlinear coupling, whereas the discrete spectra have no corresponding coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work describes the pedestal structure, transport and stability in an effective mass (A eff) scan from pure deuterium to pure tritium plasmas using a type I ELMy H-mode dataset in which key parameters that affect the pedestal behaviour (normalized pressure, ratio of the separatrix density to the pedestal density, pedestal ion Larmor radius, pedestal collisionality and rotation) are kept as constant as possible. Experimental results show a significant increase of the density at the pedestal top with increasing A eff, a modest reduction in the temperature and an increase in the pressure. The variations in the pedestal heights are mainly due to a change in the pedestal gradients while only small differences are observed in the pedestal width. A clear increase in the pedestal density and pressure gradients are observed from deuterium to tritium. The experimental results suggest a reduction of the pedestal inter-edge localized mode (inter-ELM) transport from deuterium to tritium. The reduction is likely in the pedestal inter-ELM particle transport, as suggested by the clear increase of the pedestal density gradients. The experimental results suggest also a possible reduction of the pedestal inter-ELM heat transport, however, the large experimental uncertainties do not allow conclusive claims on the heat diffusivity. The clear experimental reduction of η e (the ratio between density and temperature gradient lengths) in the middle/top of the pedestal with increasing A eff suggests that there may be a link between increasing A eff and the reduction of electron scale turbulent transport. From the modelling point of view, an initial characterization of the behaviour of pedestal microinstabilities shows that the tritium plasma is characterized by growth rates lower than the deuterium plasmas. The pedestal stability of peeling-ballooning modes is assessed with both ideal and resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). No significant effect of the isotope mass on the pedestal stability is observed using ideal MHD. Instead, resistive MHD shows a clear increase of the stability with increasing isotope mass. The resistive MHD results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results of the normalized pedestal pressure gradient. The experimental and modelling results suggest that the main candidates to explain the change in the pedestal are a reduction in the inter-ELM transport and an improvement of the pedestal stability from deuterium to tritium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present analytical study extends the problems of pressure anisotropy-driven instabilities and gravitational instability in space plasmas to mixed quantum polytropic gas in the interior of dense stars accounting for the effects of viscosity, finite Larmor radius (FLR) and self-gravitational effects. The generalized polytrope pressure laws are considered as adiabatic equations in which the pressure components depend upon the plasma density, magnitude of the magnetic field, and the polytrope indices. The modified properties of waves and instabilities in gravitating quantum plasmas have been analysed using the quantum magnetohydrodynamic (QMHD) fluid description in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and Chew–Goldberger–Low (CGL) limits. In the parallel propagation, the Jeans instability modified by quantum diffraction parameters and firehose mode modified by FLR parameter is obtained separately. The Jeans instability condition depends upon the quantum diffraction term and polytrope index β, and it remains unaffected due to viscosity and ion Larmor frequency. The growth rate of the Jeans instability decreases due to viscosity and quantum diffraction parameters, while the growth rate of the firehose instability increases due to FLR corrections. In the transverse mode, a similar nature is observed in the growth rates; however, the instability region decreases significantly due to polytrope indices and different dispersion properties of MHD and CGL viscous quantum plasmas. The analytical results have been applied in dense degenerate stars to measure the characteristic parameters and understand the MHD wave propagation, pressure anisotropy-driven, and gravitationally driven instabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-stage cascade magnetic compression scheme based on field reversed configuration plasma is proposed. The temperature and density of plasma before and after magnetic compression are analyzed. In addition, the suppression of the two-fluid effect and the finite Larmor radius effect on the tilting mode and the rotating mode of major magnetic hydrodynamic instability is studied, and finally, the key physical and engineering parameters of the deuterium–deuterium fusion pulse device are introduced. Further analysis shows that the fusion neutrons can be produced at an energy flux of more than 2 MW/m2 per year, which meets the material testing requirements for the fusion demonstration reactor (DEMO). If the recovery of magnetic field energy is taken into account, net energy outputs may be achieved, indicating that the scheme has a potential application prospect as a deuterium–deuterium pulse fusion energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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When a particle crosses a region of space where the curvature radius of the magnetic field line shrinks below its gyroradius $r_{g}$ , it experiences a non-adiabatic (magnetic moment violating) change in pitch angle. The present paper carries that observation into magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence to examine the influence of intermittent, sharp bends of the magnetic field lines on particle transport. On the basis of dedicated measurements in a simulation of incompressible turbulence, it is argued that regions of sufficiently large curvature exist in sufficient numbers on all scales to promote scattering. The parallel mean free path predicted by the power-law statistics of the curvature strength scales in proportion to $r_{g}^{0.3}\,\ell _{c}^{0.7}$ ($\ell _{c}$ is the coherence scale of the turbulence), which is of direct interest for cosmic-ray phenomenology. Particle tracking in that numerical simulation confirms that the magnetic moment diffuses through localized, violent interactions, in agreement with the above picture. Correspondingly, the overall transport process is non-Brownian up to length scales $\gtrsim \ell _{c}$. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the derivation of a general wave dispersion relation for warm magnetized plasma under the two-fluid formalism. The discussion is quite general except for the assumption of low frequency and slow phase speed, for which the displacement current is negligible, under the implicit assumption that the plasma is sufficiently dense to satisfy the condition ω p e > ω c e , where ωpe and ωce denote the plasma oscillation frequency and electron gyro frequency, respectively. The present discussion does not invoke charge neutrality associated with the fluctuations although it is implicitly satisfied. The resulting dispersion relation that includes the fluid thermal effects shows that there are three eigen modes, which include those corresponding to ideal MHD, namely, fast, slow, and kinetic Alfvén waves, as well as higher-frequency modes including the ion and electron cyclotron and lower-hybrid resonances. The fluid effects in the ideal MHD wave branches are influenced by the finite Larmor radius scales, and when the wave number in the cross field direction is comparable to these values, the fluid effects become significant. It is found that the Larmor radius should be interpreted in the sense as ion-acoustic gyro-radius instead of ion thermal gyro radius only. That is, it is found that the electrons also contribute to the non-ideal effect associated with the kinetic Alfvén wave. A comprehensive explanation of the polarization of each mode is also presented. The present findings indicate that the polarity may change its sign only for the kinetic Alfvén mode branch and that such a transition is based on the propagation angle. When such a change does take place, it is found that the kinetic Alfvén wave transits to an ion-acoustic mode. For each branch, it is also found that the electric field along the ambient magnetic field is purely transverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed at investigating the role of electrons in creation of currents in plasma equilibria with high plasma pressure (β ≈ 1). Despite the long history of studies of these equilibria, there is still no consensus on what kind of particle species is responsible for the creation of the diamagnetic current and what characteristic size the current layer should have. For example, simulations of isothermal plasma injection into a multi-cusp magnetic trap [J. Park et al., Front. Astron. Space Sci. 6, 74 (2019)] demonstrate the formation of a transition layer with a thickness comparable to the electron Larmor radius, where the equilibrium current is carried by electrons. At the same time, studies of a diamagnetic bubble created by a hot-ion plasma in a mirror trap [I. Kotelnikov, Plasma Phys. Control Fusion 62, 075002 (2020)] assume ion dominance and completely ignore electron currents. In this paper, we show that the equilibrium initially governed by the ion diamagnetic current is unstable against perturbations at the ion-cyclotron frequency harmonics, and this instability forces the plasma to come to a new equilibrium state in which the current is mainly created by the E × B -drift of electrons. The same type of equilibrium is also found to form in a more realistic problem setup when plasma is continuously injected into the uniform vacuum magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the Abnormal Sub‐Auroral Ion Drifts (ASAID) developed in the postmidnight (1–4) magnetic local time sector in 2013. Shown by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program F15 horizontal ion velocity measurements, we specified 21 antisunward (eastward) ASAID flow channels (FCs) based on their respective underlying polar convections. Overall, the polar convection formed a two‐cell pattern with its convection axis tilted in the morning‐evening direction because of the underlying BY < 0 conditions. Its dawn cell intruded into the duskside from the dawnside where the eastward ASAID flows were streaming antisunward, opposite to the dawn cell sunward convection flows. Mostly, the ASAID FC appeared in the coinciding ring‐current–related ionospheric trough and flow‐stagnation–related main ionospheric trough in the South American sector because of the favorable conditions created by the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly promoting also the development of Stable Auroral Red (SAR) arc. Rarely observed, the ASAID FC was associated with the SAR arc detected over Rothera. Detected in the Mid Pacific longitude sector, a pair of northern‐southern ASAID FCs demonstrated northern‐southern conjugacy. With correlated observations, demonstrating magnetosphere‐ionosphere conjugacy, the inward (earthward) ASAID electric (E) field could also be investigated. These reveal the ASAID E field's fast‐time development by short‐circuiting when the hot‐ring‐current—cold‐plasmasphere interface developed and became impacted by finite Larmor radius effects because of the earthward intrusion of hot ring current protons. The ASAID E field's inner‐magnetosphere environment was characterized by the hot zone where heating was generated by low‐frequency waves and auroral kilometric radiations. Key Points: The postmidnight eastward Abnormal Sub‐Auroral Ion Drifts (ASAID) flows streamed antisunward: opposite to the dawn cell's sunward flowsThe ASAID flows were associated mostly with the ring ionospheric trough and sometimes with the SAR arcThe inward (earthward) ASAID E field developed by short‐circuiting when finite Larmor radius effects dominated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No spacecraft visiting a comet has been equipped with instruments to directly measure the static electric field. However, the electric field can occasionally be estimated indirectly by observing its effects on the ion velocity distribution. We present such observations made by the Rosetta spacecraft on 19 April 2016, 35 km from the nucleus. At this time comet 67P was at a low outgassing rate and the plasma environment was relatively stable. The ion velocity distributions show the cometary ions on the first half of their gyration. We estimate the bulk drift velocity and the gyration speed from the distributions. By using the local measured magnetic field and assuming an E × B drift of the gyrocentre, we get an estimate for the average electric field driving this ion motion. We analyze a period of 13 hr, during which the plasma environment does not change drastically. We find that the average strength of the perpendicular electric field component is 0.21 mV/m. The direction of the electric field is mostly anti‐sunward. This is in agreement with previous results based on different methods. Plain Language Summary: Measuring the static electric field in space plasmas is difficult. Most spacecraft do not have dedicated instruments for it, and the Rosetta mission to comet 67P is no exception. But the electric field is one of the main governing factors behind the motion of newly born cometary ions. In this study, we use measurements of the cometary ions to estimate the average electric field close to the nucleus. The observations are made on the 19 April 2016 by the Ion Composition Analyzer, which measures the energy and travel direction of the different plasma species. The specific shape of the observed velocity distribution of cometary ions—a partial ring—indicates that the fields accelerating the observed cometary ions are relatively homogeneous. The spatial scale this applies to is approximately one gyroradius, which we estimated to be around 340 km. The resulting electric field is 0.21 mV/m, which is significantly smaller than the expected field in the upstream solar wind, far away from the nucleus. Key Points: Rosetta observations show partial ring distributions of cometary ions at comet 67P close to the nucleusFrom the velocity distributions the plasma bulk velocity and gyration speed are determinedWe estimate the perpendicular electric field component from the bulk velocity and find a mostly anti‐sunward field of 0.21 mV/m [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the development of two-dimensional current sheets with respect to tearing modes, in collisionless plasmas with a strong guide field, is analysed. During their nonlinear evolution, these thin current sheets can become unstable to the formation of plasmoids, which allows the magnetic reconnection process to reach high reconnection rates. We carry out a detailed study of the effect of a finite $\beta _e$ , which also implies finite electron Larmor radius effects, on the collisionless plasmoid instability. This study is conducted through a comparison of gyrofluid and gyrokinetic simulations. The comparison shows in general a good capability of the gyrofluid models in predicting the plasmoid instability observed with gyrokinetic simulations. We show that the effects of $\beta _e$ promotes the plasmoid growth. The effect of the closure applied during the derivation of the gyrofluid model is also studied through the comparison among the variations of the different contributions to the total energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An equation describing eigenmodes in the ion cyclotron frequency range in 'warm' bounded plasmas, i.e. eigenmodes which are absent in the two-fluid model but exist in kinetic theory due to finite Larmor radius of the ions, is derived for the first time. It is valid for electrostatic modes but the developed approach is generic. Calculations are carried out for two cases: first, for a homogeneous magnetic field; second, taking into account the effects of toroidicity in tokamaks. It is found that, in general, equations for eigenmodes in warm plasmas do not reduce to second-order differential equations (in contrast to those which are usually used to describe the radial structure of eigenmodes in fusion devices). The study of modes in warm plasmas is of interest, in particular, in connection with the recent observations of superthermal ion cyclotron emission in the NSTX-U spherical torus and DIII-D tokamak, which can be hardly explained by conventional theories employing fast magnetoacoustic modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design and operation of future tokamak fusion reactors using a deuterium–tritium 50:50 mix requires a solid understanding of how energy confinement properties change with ion mass. This study looks at how turbulence and energy transport change in L-mode plasmas in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak when changing ion species between hydrogen and deuterium. For this purpose, both experimental turbulence measurements and modeling are employed. Local measurements of ion-scale (with wavevector of fluctuations perpendicular to the B-field k ⊥ < 2 cm−1, k ⊥ ρ s < 0.2, where ρs is the ion sound Larmor radius using the deuterium ion mass) electron temperature fluctuations have been performed in the outer core (normalized toroidal flux ρ Tor = 0.65 − 0.8) using a multi-channel correlation electron cyclotron emission diagnostic. Lower root mean square perpendicular fluctuation amplitudes and radial correlation lengths have been measured in hydrogen vs deuterium. Measurements of the cross-phase angle between a normal-incidence reflectometer and an ECE signal were made to infer the cross-phase angle between density and temperature fluctuations. The magnitude of the cross-phase angle was found larger (more out-of-phase) in hydrogen than in deuterium. TRANSP power balance simulations show a larger ion heat flux in hydrogen where the electron-ion heat exchange term is found to play an important role. These experimental observations were used as the basis of a validation study of both quasilinear gyrofluid trapped gyro-Landau fluid-SAT2 and nonlinear gyrokinetic GENE codes. Linear solvers indicate that, at long wavelengths ( k ⊥ ρ s < 1), energy transport in the deuterium discharge is dominated by a mixed ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) and trapped-electron mode turbulence while in hydrogen transport is exclusively and more strongly driven by ITG turbulence. The Ricci validation metric has been used to quantify the agreement between experiments and simulations taking into account both experimental and simulation uncertainties as well as four different observables across different levels of the primacy hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma energization and thermalization in magnetic reconnection is an important topic in astrophysical studies. We select two magnetic reconnection exhausts encountered by Solar Orbiter and analyze the associated ion heating in the kinetic regime. Both cases feature asymmetric plasma merging in the exhaust and anisotropic heating. For a quantitative investigation of the associated complex velocity-space structures, we adopt a three-dimensional Hermite representation of the proton velocity distribution function to produce the distribution of Hermite moments. We also derive the enstrophy and Hermite spectra to analyze the free energy conversion and transfer in phase space. We find a depletion of Hermite power at small m (corresponding to large-scale structures in velocity space) inside the reconnection exhaust region, concurrent with enhanced proton temperature and decreased enstrophy. Furthermore, the slopes of the 1D time-averaged parallel Hermite spectra are lower inside the exhaust and consistent with the effect of phase mixing that creates small fluctuations in velocity space. These fluctuations store free energy at higher m and are smoothed by weak collisionality, leading to irreversible thermalization. We also suggest that the perpendicular heating may happen via perpendicular phase mixing resulting from finite Larmor radius effects around the exhaust boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analytical observation of the simultaneous impacts of electrical resistivity, finite Larmor radius (FLR) correction, and electron inertia on the magnetohydrodynamic Rayleigh–Taylor unstable mode of incompressible rotating quantum plasma is carried out. The perturbation formulations of the problem are derived by applying the QMHD model to obtain the dispersion equation for the stratified quantum hydrodynamic fluid plasma. The dispersion equation is analyzed graphically and numerically for the various cases. It is obtained that the simultaneous impacts of rotation, resistivity, FLR correction, electron inertia, and quantum correction modify the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) unstable mode of the stratified magnetized fluid plasma. The graphical studies show that the rotational effect destabilizes or stabilizes the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability of the magnetized quantum plasma, with or without the impacts of electrical resistivity and electron inertia. This result may be useful for studying the magnetic reconnection process and its applications, viz., supernova explosions, neutron stars, white dwarfs, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the inertial subrange of scales, an exact compressible turbulence universal spectrum law −8/3 for the density fluctuations of cosmic rays (CRs) in the frame of the known two-fluid model of CR dynamics is obtained. It is shown that the origin of this scaling law may be due to the arising of shocks at the breaking of the nonlinear simple waves of CRs near the scale of their Larmor's radii, as it is well known for the solar wind with the same turbulent spectrum law −8/3. The consistency of the turbulence spectrum −8/3 of CRs with the observed nonthermal differential energy distribution of CRs with a similar index −8/3 due to the possibility of self-reacceleration of the CRs on the self-arising shocks is stated. The turbulent diffusion mechanism for the observed CRs energy spectrum breaks is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We calculate the radiative transition rates for synchro-curvature radiation to explore the possibility of maser in the environment that may occur in the magnetosphere of neutron stars (NSs). Unlike previous studies, we employ relativistic quantum mechanics, solving the Dirac equation for an electron in helical magnetic fields. Following Voisin et al. [ 1 , 2 ], we utilize adiabatic spinor rotations, under the assumption that the curvature of magnetic-field lines is much larger than the Larmor radius, to obtain the wave functions of an electron. We classify the electron states either by the spin operator projected on the magnetic field or by the helicity operator. To demonstrate that there is a regime where the true absorption rate becomes negative, we numerically evaluate the obtained formulae for some parameter values that may be encountered in the outer gaps of different types of NSs. We show that there is indeed a range of parameters for the negative true absorption rate to occur. We will also study the dependence on those parameters systematically and discuss the classical limit of our formulae. We finally give a crude estimate of the amplification factor in the same environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turbulent transport in a magnetized plasma of the kind found in tokamaks is modeled by a 2D wave spectrum that allows reduction to a symplectic map. The properties of particle transport when chaos sets in are analyzed in various circumstances including finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects and a background plasma flow. For large wave amplitudes, regular particle orbits become chaotic, which represents a type of Lagrangian turbulence. When chaos becomes global, it leads to the loss of particle confinement. Poloidal flows tend to decrease the chaos in some regions, and they can give rise to the formation of transport barriers. FLR effects not only reduce chaos but also give rise to non-local behavior. Thus, when the particles have a thermal distribution of Larmor radii, a non-Gaussian particle distribution function in space is obtained. However, the transport preserves its diffusive scaling when there is no flow. Previous results about the dependence of the diffusion coefficient with amplitude are re-derived analytically and numerically taking into account FLR effects. In the presence of general poloidal flows, the transport has to be described by a two-step map. They modify the nature of transport in the direction of the flow from diffusive to ballistic to super-ballistic, depending on the type of flow. The transverse transport, in turn, shows suppression of the oscillations with wave amplitude that are present in the absence of flow. When the plasma flow varies linearly with radius, the transport can be studied with a similar single-step map, and the transverse diffusion coefficient is reduced while parallel transport can become super-ballistic. For non-monotonic flows, there are accelerating modes that can produce ballistic-like particles while the bulk of the particles behaves diffusively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of selective ion transmission on the use of retarding field analyzers (RFAs), which is attributed to the ion Larmor motion, was investigated. Depending on the ion Larmor radius and ion guiding center position, selective transmission limits the parallel and perpendicular ion velocities inside the RFA volume. The velocity limitation flattens I–V curve, leading to an overestimation of the parallel ion temperature. However, the overestimation can be reduced to an acceptable level using the slope in a large grid potential region. The influence of selective transmission depends on both parallel and perpendicular ion temperatures. This nature likely allows the simultaneous determination of two ion temperatures by the best fit of the experimental data, even from a single I–V curve. Applicability of this method was investigated using a radio frequency plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In magneto-inertial fusion, the ratio of the characteristic fuel length perpendicular to the applied magnetic field R to the α-particle Larmor radius ϱ α is a critical parameter setting the scale of electron thermal-conduction loss and charged burn-product confinement. Using a previously developed deep-learning-based Bayesian inference tool, we obtain the magnetic-field fuel-radius product B R ∝ R / ϱ α from an ensemble of 16 magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) experiments. Observations of the trends in BR are consistent with relative trade-offs between compression and flux loss as well as the impact of mix from 1D resistive radiation magneto-hydrodynamics simulations in all but two experiments, for which 3D effects are hypothesized to play a significant role. Finally, we explain the relationship between BR and the generalized Lawson parameter χ. Our results indicate the ability to improve performance in MagLIF through careful tuning of experimental inputs, while also highlighting key risks from mix and 3D effects that must be mitigated in scaling MagLIF to higher currents with a next-generation driver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) is considered important in transporting energy and mass at the magnetopause of Earth and other planets. However, the ion kinetic effect influences the generation and evolution of KHI, as the spatial length of the magnetopause may be smaller than the Larmor radius of the ion; this influence is not yet fully understood. In this investigation, laboratory experiments were designed to study the excitation of KHI at the ion kinetic scale. The ion kinetic scale was modeled by controlling the ratio of the Larmor radius and the electric scale length ρ i / L E > 1 , and the KHI was excited at the spatial scale of LE by a controllable sheared E × B flow. It was found that the ion kinetic effect on KHI growth manifests as the ion Larmor radius reaches the shear length scale, and the KHI is suppressed as the ion Larmor radius increases. Incorporating a theoretical analysis by substituting our experimental parameters, the suppression of the KHI was attributed to the fact that the KHI linear growth rate decreases with the ratio change of the ion Larmor radius because the relative orientations of the ion diamagnetic drift velocity ( V d ) and the shear flow velocity ( V 0 ) are opposite. Our experimental conditions ( V d / V 0 < 0) are similar to the dusk-side conditions of the magnetospheres of Earth and Mercury under northward interplanetary magnetic fields; therefore, this result can be extended to understand the evolution of KHI in the planetary boundary layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charged particle acceleration is the subject of great interest because of its applications in various fields such as thermonuclear fusion, nuclear physics, radiation generation, coherent harmonic generation, probing materials, medical science, food preservation, etc. The particle acceleration is usually done by interacting the particles with strong electric fields. Since the magnetic field diverts the particle motion, this also plays a vital role in the particle interaction with the electromagnetic fields. In the present work, a combined configuration of helical wiggler and solenoidal magnetic fields has been used to optimize the trajectory of the electron for effective particle acceleration. In this concept, the solenoidal field controls the transverse components of the electron velocities and wiggler field confines the helical motion of the electron. The optimized values of magnitudes of solenoidal field and wiggler magnetic field and its period / wavelength make this configuration useful for particle acceleration in waveguide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of lighter, low-energy charged particles in a laboratory beamline are complicated due to the influence of Earth's magnetic field. Rather than nulling out the Earth's magnetic field over the entire facility, we present a new way to correct particle trajectories using much more spatially limited Helmholtz coils. This approach is versatile and easy to incorporate in a wide range of facilities, including the existing ones, enabling measurements of low-energy charged particles in a laboratory beamline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this theoretical exploration, the stabilizing or destabilizing impacts of the rotation, electron inertia, and electrical resistivity on the Kelvin–Helmholtz stability in two-superimposed incompressible magnetized plasma fluids incorporating finite ion Larmor radius (FLR) correction and suspended dust particulates are studied. The linearized perturbation equations for the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability problems are determined based on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. The general dispersion equation is derived by using appropriate boundary conditions. By the numerical estimation, the finite ion Larmor radius does not have any significant role in the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability of the magnetoplasma medium. The graphical estimates reveal the destabilization impact of the resistivity and electron inertia on the Kelvin–Helmholtz hydrodynamic plasma fluid system. In this paper, graphical representations have also analyzed the effect of rotation on the Kelvin–Helmholtz stability growth rate with the variation of electron inertia and resistivity. This current analysis provides pertinent information about the significant involvement of this considered system in space and astrophysical structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]