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The collision of two expanding plasma clouds is investigated, emphasizing instabilities and electron energization in the plasma mixing layer. This work is not only directly relevant to laboratory experiments with explosively created laser or z-pinch plasmas but may also elucidate naturally occurring plasma collisions in astrophysical or space physics contexts. In the previous publications [Malkov and Sotnikov, Phys. Plasmas 25, 102108 (2018) and Sotnikov et al., Phys. Plasmas 27, 122113 (2020)], we have studied, analytically and numerically, the flow emerging from interpenetrating coronas launched by two parallel wires vaporized in a vacuum chamber. The main foci of the studies have been on the general flow pattern and lower-hybrid and thin-shell instabilities that under certain conditions develop in the collision layer. The present paper centers around the initial phase of the interpenetration of the two plasmas. Two-stream ion–ion instability, efficient electron heating, and stochastic acceleration dominate plasma mixing at this phase. Both the adiabatic (reversible) electron heating and stochastic (irreversible) acceleration and heating mechanisms, powered by unstably driven electric fields, are considered. The irreversibility results from a combination of electron runaway acceleration in the wave electric fields and pitch-angle scattering on ions and neutrals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microscopic instability and the macroscopic flow pattern resulting from colliding plasmas are studied analytically in support of laboratory experiments. The plasma flows are assumed to stream radially from two separate centers. In a quasi-planar (2D) geometry, they may arise from an Ohmic explosion of two parallel wires, but similar configurations emerge from other outflows, e.g., colliding winds in binary star systems. One objective of this paper is to characterize the flow instabilities developing near the flow stagnation line. An exact solution for the Buneman-type dispersion equation is obtained without conventional simplifications. The unstable wave characteristics are key to anomalous resistivity that determines the reconnection rate of opposite magnetic fields transported with each flow toward the stagnation zone. The second objective of this paper is to calculate the stream function of the plasma shocked upon collision. We addressed this task by mapping the flow region to a hodograph plane and solving a Dirichlet problem for the stream function. By providing the instability growth rate, responsible for anomalous transport coefficients, and the overall flow configuration, these studies lay the ground for the next step. From there, we will examine the field reconnection scenarios and emerging mesoscopic structures, such as radial striata observed in the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theory for the collapse of the edge zonal shear layer, as observed at the density limit at low β. This paper investigates the scaling of the transport and mean profiles with the adiabaticity parameter α, with special emphasizes on fluxes relevant to zonal flow (ZF) generation. We show that the adiabaticity parameter characterizes the strength of production of zonal flows and so determines the state of turbulence. A 1D reduced model that self-consistently describes the spatiotemporal evolution of the mean density n ¯ , the azimuthal flow v ¯ y , and the turbulent potential enstrophy ε = ⟨ ( n ̃ − ∇ 2 ϕ ̃ ) 2 / 2 ⟩ —related to fluctuation intensity—is presented. Quasi-linear analysis determines how the particle flux Γn and vorticity flux Π = − χ y ∇ 2 v y + Π r e s scale with α, in both hydrodynamic and adiabatic regimes. As the plasma response passes from adiabatic (α > 1) to hydrodynamic (α < 1), the particle flux Γn is enhanced and the turbulent viscosity χy increases. However, the residual flux Πres—which drives the flow—drops with α. As a result, the mean vorticity gradient ∇ 2 v ¯ y = Π r e s / χ y —representative of the strength of the shear—also drops. The shear layer then collapses and turbulence is enhanced. The collapse is due to a decrease in ZF production, not an increase in damping. A physical picture for the onset of collapse is presented. The findings of this paper are used to motivate an explanation of the phenomenology of low β density limit evolution. A change from adiabatic ( α = k z 2 v t h 2 / ( | ω | ν e i ) > 1 ) to hydrodynamic (α < 1) electron dynamics is associated with the density limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytic solution describing an ion-acoustic collisionless shock, self-consistently with the evolution of shock-reflected ions, is obtained. The solution extends the classic soliton solution beyond a critical Mach number, where the soliton ceases to exist because of the upstream ion reflection. The reflection transforms the soliton into a shock with a trailing wave and a foot populated by the reflected ions. The solution relates parameters of the entire shock structure, such as the maximum and minimum of the potential in the trailing wave, the height of the foot, as well as the shock Mach number, to the number of reflected ions. This relation is resolvable for any given distribution of the upstream ions. In this paper, we have resolved it for a simple "box" distribution. Two separate models of electron interaction with the shock are considered. The first model corresponds to the standard Boltzmannian electron distribution in which case the critical shock Mach number only insignificantly increases from M ≈ 1.6 (no ion reflection) to M ≈ 1.8 (substantial reflection). The second model corresponds to adiabatically trapped electrons. They produce a stronger increase, from M ≈ 3.1 to M ≈ 4.5. The shock foot that is supported by the reflected ions also accelerates them somewhat further. A self-similar foot expansion into the upstream medium is described analytically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent efforts in cosmic ray (CR) confinement and transport theory are discussed. Three problems are addressed as being crucial for understanding the present day observations and their possible telltale signs of the CR origin. The first problem concerns CR behavior right after their release from a source, such as a supernova remnant. At this phase, the CRs are confined near the source by self-emitted Alfven waves. The second is the problem of diffusive propagation of CRs through the turbulent interstellar medium. This is a seemingly straightforward and long-resolved problem, but it remains controversial and reveals paradoxes. A resolution based on the Chapman-Enskog asymptotic CR transport analysis, that also includes magnetic focusing, is suggested. The third problem is about a puzzling sharp (~10°) anisotropies in the CR arrival directions that might bear on important clues of their transport between the source and observer. The overarching goal is to improve our understanding of all aspects of the CR's source escape and ensuing propagation through the galaxy to the level at which their sources can be identified observationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The links between the microscopic dynamics and macroscopic threshold physics of the L → H transition are elucidated. Emphasis is placed on understanding the physics of power threshold scalings, and especially on understanding the minimum in the power threshold as a function of density Pthr (n). By extending a numerical 1D model to evolve both electron and ion temperatures, including collisional coupling, we find that the decrease in Pthr (n) along the low-density branch is due to the combination of an increase in collisional electron-to-ion energy transfer and an increase in the heating fraction coupled to the ions. Both processes strengthen the edge diamagnetic electric field needed to lock in the mean electric field shear for the L→H transition. The increase in Pthr (n) along the high-density branch is due to the increase with ion collisionality of damping of turbulence-driven shear flows. Turbulence driven shear flows are needed to trigger the transition by extracting energy from the turbulence. Thus, we identify the critical transition physics components of the separatrix ion heat flux and the zonal flow excitation. The model reveals a power threshold minimum in density scans as a crossover between the threshold decrease supported by an increase in heat fraction received by ions (directly or indirectly, from electrons) and a threshold increase, supported by the rise in shear flow damping. The electron/ion heating mix emerges as important to the transition, in that it, together with electron-ion coupling, regulates the edge diamagnetic electric field shear. The importance of possible collisionless electron-ion heat transfer processes is explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collision of two expanding plasma flows is investigated with an emphasis on the mixing flow. The study adheres to laboratory experiments where two Ohmically exploding parallel wires launch hot plasma coronas toward each other. The interpenetration and mixing of the coronas is followed by the collision and mixing of the slowly moving phases of the melted wires. In a recent publication [M. A. Malkov and V. I. Sotnikov, Phys. Plasmas 25(10), 102108 (2018)], a stationary flow that emerges from interpenetrating coronas and plasma microinstabilities in the mixing region had been studied analytically. In this present work, using two-dimensional numerical simulations, we investigate the time evolution of the flow, compare its patterns resulting from collisions of the rarefied coronas and dense wire material, and examine the macroscopic stability of the flow. The stability of the mixing layer with respect to the so-called thin-shell instability is specifically addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods for inferring the electron distribution function (EDF) from a probe current–voltage trace are reviewed for moderate-collisional plasma. The explicit accounting of particle collisions, modeling sheath depletion, and electron refilling processes are rarely performed when analyzing probe measurements, yet they are critical for regime validity, EDF-profile accuracy, and space potential quantification precision. The advantages, limitations, and utilization of large-area wall probes in moderate-collisional plasma, capable of highly resolved indications of energetic electrons in plasma, are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]