Whistler-Alfvén turbulence in a non-neutral ultrarelativistic pair plasma

Avatar
Poster
Voice is AI-generated
Connected to paperThis paper is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review

Whistler-Alfvén turbulence in a non-neutral ultrarelativistic pair plasma

Authors

Stanislav Boldyrev, Mikhail Medvedev

Abstract

The large-scale dynamics of most conventional space and astrophysical plasmas are predominantly governed by Alfvén modes, which are low-frequency magnetohydrodynamic modes existing in magnetized media. At scales smaller than the ion gyroscale or frequencies exceeding the ion cyclotron frequency, the Alfvén modes transform into kinetic-Alfvén or whistler modes that significantly contribute to plasma dynamics. However, this scenario reverses in non-neutral pair plasmas, such as those found in the magnetospheres of pulsars and magnetars, around rotating black holes and in their relativistic jets, as well as in certain laboratory plasmas. In these systems, the large-scale dynamics is governed by hybrid whistler-Alfvén modes, which transform into pure Alfvén modes at smaller scales. We derive the nonlinear equations that describe the dynamics of whistler-Alfvén modes in ultrarelativistic non-neutral magnetically dominated pair plasma and discuss the spectrum of turbulence governed by these equations.

Follow Us on

0 comments

Add comment