The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability
An investigation of magnetic fields generated in an expanding bubble of plasma with misaligned temperature and density gradients (driving the Biermann battery mechanism) is performed. With gradient scales L, large-scale magnetic fields are generated by the Biermann battery mechanism with plasma 1, a...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Institute of Physics (AIP)
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/117073 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-6563 |
| _version_ | 1811095528135458816 |
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| author | Schoeffler, K. M. Fonseca, R. A. Silva, L. O. Gomes Loureiro, Nuno F |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center Schoeffler, K. M. Fonseca, R. A. Silva, L. O. Gomes Loureiro, Nuno F |
| author_sort | Schoeffler, K. M. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | An investigation of magnetic fields generated in an expanding bubble of plasma with misaligned temperature and density gradients (driving the Biermann battery mechanism) is performed. With gradient scales L, large-scale magnetic fields are generated by the Biermann battery mechanism with plasma 1, as long as L is comparable to the ion inertial length di. For larger system sizes, L/de 100 (where deis the electron inertial length), the Weibel instability generates magnetic fields of similar magnitude but with wavenumber kde0.2. In both cases, the growth and saturation of these fields have a weak dependence on mass ratio mi/me, indicating electron mediated physics. A scan in system size is performed at mi/me= 2000, showing agreement with previous results with mi/me= 25. In addition, the instability found at large system sizes is quantitatively demonstrated to be the Weibel instability. Furthermore, magnetic and electric energy spectra at scales below the electron Larmor radius are found to exhibit power law behavior with spectral indices -16/3 and -4/3, respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:18:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/117073 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:18:53Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Institute of Physics (AIP) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1170732022-09-29T19:29:58Z The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability Schoeffler, K. M. Fonseca, R. A. Silva, L. O. Gomes Loureiro, Nuno F Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center Gomes Loureiro, Nuno F An investigation of magnetic fields generated in an expanding bubble of plasma with misaligned temperature and density gradients (driving the Biermann battery mechanism) is performed. With gradient scales L, large-scale magnetic fields are generated by the Biermann battery mechanism with plasma 1, as long as L is comparable to the ion inertial length di. For larger system sizes, L/de 100 (where deis the electron inertial length), the Weibel instability generates magnetic fields of similar magnitude but with wavenumber kde0.2. In both cases, the growth and saturation of these fields have a weak dependence on mass ratio mi/me, indicating electron mediated physics. A scan in system size is performed at mi/me= 2000, showing agreement with previous results with mi/me= 25. In addition, the instability found at large system sizes is quantitatively demonstrated to be the Weibel instability. Furthermore, magnetic and electric energy spectra at scales below the electron Larmor radius are found to exhibit power law behavior with spectral indices -16/3 and -4/3, respectively. 2018-07-24T15:27:52Z 2018-07-24T15:27:52Z 2016-04 2015-12 2018-07-17T15:00:46Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1070-664X 1089-7674 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/117073 Schoeffler, K. M. et al. “The Generation of Magnetic Fields by the Biermann Battery and the Interplay with the Weibel Instability.” Physics of Plasmas 23, 5 (May 2016): 056304 © 2016 Author(s) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-6563 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4946017 Physics of Plasmas Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf American Institute of Physics (AIP) arXiv |
| spellingShingle | Schoeffler, K. M. Fonseca, R. A. Silva, L. O. Gomes Loureiro, Nuno F The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability |
| title | The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability |
| title_full | The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability |
| title_fullStr | The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability |
| title_full_unstemmed | The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability |
| title_short | The generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and the interplay with the Weibel instability |
| title_sort | generation of magnetic fields by the biermann battery and the interplay with the weibel instability |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/117073 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-6563 |
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