Nonlinear evolution of the magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: From fluid to kinetic modeling

0477006 - ASÚ 2017 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Henri, P. - Cerri, S.S. - Califano, F. - Pegoraro, F. - Rossi, C. - Faganello, M. - Šebek, Ondřej - Trávníček, Pavel M. - Hellinger, Petr - Frederiksen, J. T. - Nordlund, A. - Markidis, S. - Keppens, R. - Lapenta, G.
Nonlinear evolution of the magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: From fluid to kinetic modeling.
Physics of Plasmas. Roč. 20, č. 10 (2013), 102118/1-102118/13. ISSN 1070-664X. E-ISSN 1089-7674
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) 7E11053
Keywords : Kelvin-Helmholtz instability * plasma kinetic theory * plasma magnetohydrodynamics
Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics; BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics (UFA-U)
Impact factor: 2.249, year: 2013

We report here the first comparative study of the evolution of a magnetized shear flow, through a variety of different plasma models by using magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), Hall-MHD, two-fluid, hybrid kinetic, and full kinetic codes. Kinetic relaxation effects are discussed to emphasize the need for kinetic equilibriums to study the dynamics of collisionless plasmas in non trivial configurations. Discrepancies between models are studied both in the linear and in the nonlinear regime of the magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, to highlight the effects of small scale processes on the nonlinear evolution of collisionless plasmas. We illustrate how the evolution of a magnetized shear flow depends on the relative orientation of the fluid vorticity with respect to the magnetic field direction during the linear evolution when kinetic effects are taken into account.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0273405