Magnetic field generation and amplification in an expanding plasma

Abstract

Particle-in-cell simulations are used to investigate the formation of magnetic fields, B, in plasmas with perpendicular electron density and temperature gradients. For system sizes, L, comparable to the ion skin depth, d_i, it is shown that B ~ d_i/L, consistent with the Biermann battery effect. However, for large L/d_i, it is found that the Weibel instability (due to electron temperature anisotropy) supersedes the Biermann battery as the main producer of B. The Weibel-produced fields saturate at a finite amplitude (plasma β\approx 100), independent of L. The magnetic energy spectra below the electron Larmor radius scale is well fitted by power law with slope -16/3, as predicted in Schekochihin et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser 182, 310 (2009).

References in corpus (4)

• On the Origin of Cosmic Magnetic Fields
• One-to-one direct modeling of experiments and astrophysical scenarios: pushing the envelope on kinetic plasma simulations
• Current status of turbulent dynamo theory: From large-scale to small-scale dynamos
• The dissipation of solar wind turbulent fluctuations at electron scales

Cited by in corpus (21)

• Observation of magnetic field generation via the Weibel instability in interpenetrating plasma flows
• Kinetic turbulence in relativistic plasma: from thermal bath to non-thermal continuum
• Numerical investigation of kinetic turbulence in relativistic pair plasmas I: Turbulence statistics
• Kinetic simulation of magnetic field generation and collisionless shock formation in expanding laboratory plasmas
• The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability
• Generation of near-equipartition magnetic fields in turbulent collisionless plasmas
• Collisionless energy transfer in kinetic turbulence: field-particle correlations in Fourier space
• Interplay between the Weibel instability and the Biermann battery in realistic laser-solid interactions
• Biermann battery-mediated magnetic reconnection in 3-D colliding plasmas
• High-power laser experiment forming a supercritical collisionless shock in a magnetized uniform plasma at rest
• Accretion in active galactic nuclei and disk-jet coupling
• Noise-Induced Magnetic Field Saturation in Kinetic Simulations
• The effects of collisions on the generation and suppression of temperature anisotropies and the Weibel instability
• General kinetic solution for the Biermann battery with an associated pressure anisotropy generation
• Mapping the self-generated magnetic fields due to thermal Weibel instability
• The fully kinetic Biermann battery and associated generation of pressure anisotropy
• Magnetogenesis by Wave-Driven Momentum Exchange
• Slowdown of interpenetration of two counterpropagating plasma slab due to collective effects
• Expansion-Driven Self-Magnetization of High-Energy-Density Plasmas
• Biermann battery effects on the turbulent dynamo in a colliding plasma jets produced by high-power lasers
• Spontaneous magnetization of collisionless plasma through the action of a shear flow