Modulational instability of Geodesic-Acoustic-Mode packets

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Korger, David, Poli, Emanuele, Biancalani, Alessandro, Bottino, Alberto, Maj, Omar, Sama, Juvert Njeck
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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_version_ 1866912052484767744
author Korger, David
Poli, Emanuele
Biancalani, Alessandro
Bottino, Alberto
Maj, Omar
Sama, Juvert Njeck
author_facet Korger, David
Poli, Emanuele
Biancalani, Alessandro
Bottino, Alberto
Maj, Omar
Sama, Juvert Njeck
contents Isolated, undamped geodesic-acoustic-mode (GAM) packets have been demonstrated to obey a (focusing) nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) [E. Poli, Phys. Plasmas 2021]. This equation predicts susceptibility of GAM packets to the modulational instability (MI). The necessary conditions for this instability are analyzed analytically and numerically using the NLSE model. The predictions of the NLSE are compared to gyrokinetic simulations performed with the global particle-in-cell code ORB5, where GAM packets are created from initial perturbations of the axisymmetric radial electric field $E_r$. An instability of the GAM packets with respect to modulations is observed both in cases in which an initial perturbation is imposed and when the instability develops spontaneously. However, significant differences in the dynamics of the small scales are discerned between the NLSE and gyrokinetic simulations. These discrepancies are mainly due to the radial dependence of the strength of the nonlinear term, which we do not retain in the solution of the NLSE, and to the damping of higher spectral components. The damping of the high-$k_r$ components, which develop as a consequence of the nonlinearity, can be understood in terms of Landau damping. The influence of the ion Larmor radius $ρ_i$ as well as the perturbation wavevector $k_{\text{pert}}$ on this effect is studied. For the parameters considered here the aforementioned damping mechanism hinders the MI process significantly from developing to its full extent and is strong enough to stabilize some of the (according to the undamped NLSE model) unstable wavevectors.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_01243
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Modulational instability of Geodesic-Acoustic-Mode packets
Korger, David
Poli, Emanuele
Biancalani, Alessandro
Bottino, Alberto
Maj, Omar
Sama, Juvert Njeck
Plasma Physics
Isolated, undamped geodesic-acoustic-mode (GAM) packets have been demonstrated to obey a (focusing) nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) [E. Poli, Phys. Plasmas 2021]. This equation predicts susceptibility of GAM packets to the modulational instability (MI). The necessary conditions for this instability are analyzed analytically and numerically using the NLSE model. The predictions of the NLSE are compared to gyrokinetic simulations performed with the global particle-in-cell code ORB5, where GAM packets are created from initial perturbations of the axisymmetric radial electric field $E_r$. An instability of the GAM packets with respect to modulations is observed both in cases in which an initial perturbation is imposed and when the instability develops spontaneously. However, significant differences in the dynamics of the small scales are discerned between the NLSE and gyrokinetic simulations. These discrepancies are mainly due to the radial dependence of the strength of the nonlinear term, which we do not retain in the solution of the NLSE, and to the damping of higher spectral components. The damping of the high-$k_r$ components, which develop as a consequence of the nonlinearity, can be understood in terms of Landau damping. The influence of the ion Larmor radius $ρ_i$ as well as the perturbation wavevector $k_{\text{pert}}$ on this effect is studied. For the parameters considered here the aforementioned damping mechanism hinders the MI process significantly from developing to its full extent and is strong enough to stabilize some of the (according to the undamped NLSE model) unstable wavevectors.
title Modulational instability of Geodesic-Acoustic-Mode packets
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.01243