Distinct parallel electrostatic collisionless shocks in hot-cold ablative mixing plasmas

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Zhang, Yanzeng, Tang, Xian-Zhu
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Zhang, Yanzeng
Tang, Xian-Zhu
author_facet Zhang, Yanzeng
Tang, Xian-Zhu
contents Hot-cold ablative mixing plasmas are ubiquitous in astrophysical and laboratory systems, where a cold/dense plasma is roughly in pressure balance with a hot/dilute plasma. Examples include the plasma thermal quench during major disruptions in tokamaks, interaction between a central hot-spot and the solid liner in an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsule, and the formation of large-scale structures in galaxy clusters. In such systems, a parallel electrostatic collisionless shock forms and plays a critical role in both the thermal collapse of the hot plasma and the ablative mixing of cold ions. The formation and dynamics of such shocks are investigated by employing one-dimensional VPIC simulations and theoretical analyses, revealing key differences from the well-studied collisionless shocks where an over-pressured, high-density plasma expands into a rarefied background. Notably, the shock formation has a weak dependence on the plasma pressure, provided that the density ratio between the cold and hot plasmas is large. Instead, the shock is primarily governed by the plasma temperatures on both sides. The collisionless electron thermal conduction flux in both upstream and downstream regions follows the free-streaming limit itself, but its spatial gradient exhibits convective scaling, ensuring the same characteristic length scale of the electron temperature and density evolution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_24231
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Distinct parallel electrostatic collisionless shocks in hot-cold ablative mixing plasmas
Zhang, Yanzeng
Tang, Xian-Zhu
Plasma Physics
Hot-cold ablative mixing plasmas are ubiquitous in astrophysical and laboratory systems, where a cold/dense plasma is roughly in pressure balance with a hot/dilute plasma. Examples include the plasma thermal quench during major disruptions in tokamaks, interaction between a central hot-spot and the solid liner in an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsule, and the formation of large-scale structures in galaxy clusters. In such systems, a parallel electrostatic collisionless shock forms and plays a critical role in both the thermal collapse of the hot plasma and the ablative mixing of cold ions. The formation and dynamics of such shocks are investigated by employing one-dimensional VPIC simulations and theoretical analyses, revealing key differences from the well-studied collisionless shocks where an over-pressured, high-density plasma expands into a rarefied background. Notably, the shock formation has a weak dependence on the plasma pressure, provided that the density ratio between the cold and hot plasmas is large. Instead, the shock is primarily governed by the plasma temperatures on both sides. The collisionless electron thermal conduction flux in both upstream and downstream regions follows the free-streaming limit itself, but its spatial gradient exhibits convective scaling, ensuring the same characteristic length scale of the electron temperature and density evolution.
title Distinct parallel electrostatic collisionless shocks in hot-cold ablative mixing plasmas
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.24231