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Interplay between Kelvin–Helmholtz and lower-hybrid drift instabilities

Part of: Focus on Plasma Astrophysics Nonlinear waves and turbulence in space plasmas Present Achievements in SpacePlasmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2019

Jérémy Dargent Open the ORCID record for Jérémy Dargent [Opens in a new window] ,
Federico Lavorenti ,
Francesco Califano Open the ORCID record for Francesco Califano [Opens in a new window] ,
Pierre Henri ,
Francesco Pucci  and
Silvio S. Cerri
Jérémy Dargent*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica ‘E. Fermi’, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Federico Lavorenti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica ‘E. Fermi’, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy LPC2E, CNRS, Orléans, France
Francesco Califano
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica ‘E. Fermi’, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Pierre Henri
Affiliation:
LPC2E, CNRS, Orléans, France Laboratoire Lagrange, CNRS, Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, Université Cote d’Azur, Nice, France
Francesco Pucci
Affiliation:
Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Department of Mathematics, KU Leuven, Belgium
Silvio S. Cerri
Affiliation:
Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: jeremy.dargent@df.unipi.it
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Abstract

Boundary layers in space and astrophysical plasmas are the location of complex dynamics where different mechanisms coexist and compete, eventually leading to plasma mixing. In this work, we present fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of different boundary layers characterized by the following main ingredients: a velocity shear, a density gradient and a magnetic gradient localized at the same position. In particular, the presence of a density gradient drives the development of the lower-hybrid drift instability (LHDI), which competes with the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) in the development of the boundary layer. Depending on the density gradient, the LHDI can even dominate the dynamics of the layer. Because these two instabilities grow on different spatial and temporal scales, when the LHDI develops faster than the KHI an inverse cascade is generated, at least in two dimensions. This inverse cascade, starting at the LHDI kinetic scales, generates structures at scale lengths at which the KHI would typically develop. When that is the case, those structures can suppress the KHI itself because they significantly affect the underlying velocity shear gradient. We conclude that, depending on the density gradient, the velocity jump and the width of the boundary layer, the LHDI in its nonlinear phase can become the primary instability for plasma mixing. These numerical simulations show that the LHDI is likely to be a dominant process at the magnetopause of Mercury. These results are expected to be of direct impact to the interpretation of the forthcoming BepiColombo observations.

Keywords

space plasma physicsplasma simulationplasma instabilities
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 85 , Issue 6 , December 2019 , 805850601
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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