Exact hybrid-Vlasov equilibria for sheared plasmas with in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic field

Abstract

The hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell system of equations is suitable to describe a magnetized plasma at scales of the order of or larger than proton kinetic scales. An exact stationary solution is presented by revisiting previous results with a uniform-density shear flow, directed either parallel or perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field, and by adapting the solution to the hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell model. A quantitative characterization of the equilibrium distribution function is provided by studying both analytically and numerically the temperature anisotropy and gyrotropy and the heat flux. In both cases, in the shear region, the velocity distribution significantly departs from local thermodynamical equilibrium. A comparison between the time behavior of the usual "fluid-like" equilibrium shifted Maxwellian and the exact stationary solutions is carried out by means of numerical simulations of the hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell equations. These hybrid equilibria can be employed as an unperturbed states for numerous problems which involve sheared flows, such as the wave propagation in inhomogeneous background and the onset of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.

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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at proton scales with an exact kinetic equilibrium
• Kinetic Alfvén wave generation by velocity shear in collisionless plasmas
• Kinetic features for the identification of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices in \textit{in situ} observations
• Interplay between Kelvin-Helmholtz and Lower-Hybrid Drift instabilities
• Chaotic and integrable magnetic fields in one-dimensional hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell equilibria
• Finite-Larmor-radius equilibrium and currents of the Earth's flank magnetopause
• Exact hybrid-kinetic equilibria for magnetized plasmas with shearing flows
• Interaction of a spatially uniform electron beam with a rotational magnetic hole in a form of a Harris current sheet