Numerical Study of Inertial Kinetic-Alfvén Turbulence
Author(s)
Roytershteyn, Vadim; Boldyrev, Stanislav; Delzanno, Gian Luca; Chen, Christopher H. K.; Grošelj, Daniel; Gomes Loureiro, Nuno F; ... Show more Show less
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Recent observational and analytical studies suggested that a new regime of kinetic turbulence may exist in plasma environments with low electron beta (Chen & Boldyrev 2017). Such a regime, termed inertial kinetic-Alfvén turbulence (iKAW), is relevant for the solar corona, Earth's magnetosheath, and other astrophysical systems where the electron and ion plasma beta parameters satisfy the condition β e ≪ β i ≲ 1. In this paper we present kinetic numerical simulations that confirm the existence of the iKAW regime. Specifically, the simulations demonstrate a transition at scales below electron inertial length d e when β e ≪ β i ≲ 1. Spectral slopes and other statistical properties of turbulence at sub-d e scales are consistent with the phenomenological theory of inertial kinetic-Alfvén turbulence proposed by Chen & Boldyrev (2017) and with the recent observations in the Earth's magnetosheath. ©2019
Date issued
2019-01Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and EngineeringJournal
Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Citation
Roytershteyn, Vadim, et al., "Numerical Study of Inertial Kinetic-Alfvén Turbulence." Astrophysical Journal 870, 2 (January 2019): no. 103 doi 10.3847/1538-4357/aaf288 ©2019 Author(s)
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1538-4357
Keywords
Space and Planetary Science, Astronomy and Astrophysics