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Juno, James

Publications and source records attributed to Juno, James.

7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Electron Influence on the Parallel Proton Firehose Instability in 10-moment, Multifluid Simulations

Instabilities driven by pressure anisotropy play a critical role in modulating the energy transfer in space and astrophysical plasmas. For the first time, we simulate the evolution and saturation of the parallel proton firehose instability using a multifluid model without adding artificial viscosity. These simulations are performed using a 10-moment, multifluid model with local and gradient relaxation heat-flux closures in high-β proton–electron plasmas. When these higher-order moments are included and pressure anisotropy is permitted to develop in all species, we find that the electrons have a significant impact on the saturation of the parallel proton firehose instability, modulating the proton pressure anisotropy as the instability saturates. Even for lower β's more relevant to heliospheric plasmas, we observe a pronounced electron energization in simulations using the gradient relaxation closure. Our results indicate that resolving the electron pressure anisotropy is important to correctly describe the behavior of multispecies plasma systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE). VI. The Circumgalactic Medium of L * Galaxies Is Supported in an Emergent, Nonhydrostatic Equilibrium

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is often assumed to exist in or near hydrostatic equilibrium, with the regulation of accretion and the effects of feedback treated as perturbations to a stable balance between gravity and thermal pressure. We investigate global hydrostatic equilibrium in the CGM using four highly resolved L* galaxies from the Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE) project. The FOGGIE simulations were specifically targeted at fine spatial and mass resolution in the CGM (Δx ≲ 1 kpc h –1 and M ≃ 200M ⊙ ). We develop a new analysis framework that calculates the forces provided by thermal pressure gradients, turbulent pressure gradients, ram pressure gradients of large-scale radial bulk flows, centrifugal rotation, and gravity acting on the gas in the CGM. Thermal and turbulent pressure gradients vary strongly on scales of ≲5 kpc throughout the CGM. Thermal pressure gradients provide the main supporting force only beyond ~0.25R 200 , or ~50 kpc at z = 0. Within ~0.25R 200 , turbulent pressure gradients and rotational support provide stronger forces than thermal pressure. More generally, we find that global equilibrium models are neither appropriate nor predictive for the small scales probed by absorption line observations of the CGM. Local conditions generally cannot be derived by assuming a global equilibrium, but an emergent global equilibrium balancing radially inward and outward forces is obtained when averaging over the nonequilibrium local conditions on large scales in space and time. Approximate hydrostatic equilibrium holds only at large distances from galaxies, even when averaging out small-scale variations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

An investigation of shock formation vs shock mitigation of colliding plasma jets

Here, this work studies the interaction between colliding plasma jets to understand regimes in which jet merging results in shock formation vs regimes in which the shock formation is mitigated due to the collisionless interpenetration of the jets. A kinetic model is required for this study because fluid models will always produce a shock upon the collision of plasma jets. The continuum-kinetic, Vlasov–Maxwell–Dougherty model with one velocity dimension is used to accurately capture shock heating, along with a novel coupling with a moment equation to evolve perpendicular temperature for computational efficiency. As a result, this relatively inexpensive simulation can be used for detailed scans of the parameter space toward predictions of shocked vs shock-mitigated regimes, which is of interest for several fusion concepts such as plasma-jet-driven magneto-inertial fusion, high-energy-density plasmas, astrophysical phenomena, and other laboratory plasmas. The initial results obtained using this approach are in agreement with the preliminary outcomes of the plasma liner experiment.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electron cyclotron drift instability and anomalous transport: two-fluid moment theory and modeling

In the presence of a strong electric field perpendicular to the magnetic field, the electron cross-field (E × B) flow relative to the unmagnetized ions can cause the so-called electron cyclotron drift instability (ECDI) due to resonances of the ion acoustic mode and the electron cyclotron harmonics. This occurs in, for example, collisionless shock ramps in space, and in E × B discharge devices such as Hall thrusters. A prominent feature of ECDI is its capability to induce an electron flow parallel to the background >E field at a speed greatly exceeding predictions by classical collision theory. Such anomalous transport is important due to its role in particle thermalization at space shocks, and in causing plasma flows towards the walls of E × B devices, leading to unfavorable erosion and performance degradation, etc. The development of ECDI and anomalous transport is often considered requiring a fully kinetic treatment. In this work, however, we demonstrate that a reduced variant of this instability, and more importantly, the associated anomalous transport, can be treated self-consistently in a collisionless two-fluid framework without any adjustable collision parameter. By treating both electron and ion species on an equal footing, the free energy due to the inter-species velocity shear allows the growth of an anomalous electron flow parallel to the background E field. We will first present linear analyses of the instability in the two-fluid five- and ten-moment models, and compare them against the fully-kinetic theory. At low temperatures, the two-fluid models predict the fastest-growing mode in good agreement with the kinetic result. Also, by including more (> = 10) moments, secondary (and possibly higher) unstable branches can be recovered. The dependence of the instability on ion-to-electron mass ratio, plasma temperature, and background B field strength is also thoroughly explored. We then carry out direct numerical simulations of the cross-field setup using the five-moment model. The development of the instability, as well as the anomalous transport, is confirmed and in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. The force balance properties are also studied using the five-moment simulation data. Here this work casts new insights into the nature of ECDI and the associated anomalous transport and demonstrates the potential of the two-fluid moment model in efficient modeling of E × B plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dataset from: Improved multispecies Dougherty collisions

The Dougherty model Fokker-Planck operator is extended to describe nonlinear full-f collisions between multiple species in plasmas. Simple relations for cross-species primitive moments are developed which obey conservation laws, and reproduce familiar velocity and temperature relaxation rates. This treatment of multispecies Dougherty collisions, valid for arbitrary mass ratios, avoids unphysical temperatures and satisfies the H-theorem unlike an analogous Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook operator. Formulas for both a Cartesian velocity-space and a gyroaveraged operator are provided for use in Vlasov as well as long-wavelength gyrokinetic models. We present an algorithm for the discontinuous Galerkin discretization of this operator, and provide results from relaxation and Landau damping benchmarks.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A field–particle correlation analysis of a perpendicular magnetized collisionless shock

Using the field–particle correlation technique, we examine the particle energization in a three-dimensional (one spatial dimension and two velocity dimensions; 1D-2V) continuum Vlasov–Maxwell simulation of a perpendicular magnetized collisionless shock. The combination of the field–particle correlation technique with the high-fidelity representation of the particle distribution function provided by a direct discretization of the Vlasov equation allows us to ascertain the details of the exchange of energy between the electromagnetic fields and the particles in phase space. We identify the velocity-space signatures of shock-drift acceleration of the ions and adiabatic heating of the electrons arising from the perpendicular collisionless shock by constructing a simplified model with the minimum ingredients necessary to produce the observed energization signatures in the self-consistent Vlasov–Maxwell simulation. We are thus able to completely characterize the energy transfer in the perpendicular collisionless shock considered here and provide predictions for the application of the field–particle correlation technique to spacecraft measurements of collisionless shocks.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗