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Deciphering the physical basis of the intermediate-scale instability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2023

Mohamad Shalaby Open the ORCID record for Mohamad Shalaby [Opens in a new window] ,
Timon Thomas Open the ORCID record for Timon Thomas [Opens in a new window] ,
Christoph Pfrommer Open the ORCID record for Christoph Pfrommer [Opens in a new window] ,
Rouven Lemmerz Open the ORCID record for Rouven Lemmerz [Opens in a new window]  and
Virginia Bresci Open the ORCID record for Virginia Bresci [Opens in a new window]
Mohamad Shalaby*
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
Timon Thomas
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
Christoph Pfrommer
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
Rouven Lemmerz
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
Virginia Bresci
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
*
†Email address for correspondence: mshalaby@live.ca
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Abstract

We study the underlying physics of cosmic ray (CR)-driven instabilities that play a crucial role for CR transport across a wide range of scales, from interstellar to galaxy cluster environments. By examining the linear dispersion relation of CR-driven instabilities in a magnetised electron–ion background plasma, we establish that both the intermediate and gyroscale instabilities have a resonant origin, and show that these resonances can be understood via a simple graphical interpretation. These instabilities destabilise wave modes parallel to the large-scale background magnetic field at significantly distinct scales and with very different phase speeds. Furthermore, we show that approximating the electron–ion background plasma with either magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) or Hall-MHD fails to capture the fastest-growing instability in the linear regime, namely the intermediate-scale instability. This finding highlights the importance of accurately characterising the background plasma for resolving the most unstable wave modes. Finally, we discuss the implications of the different phase speeds of unstable modes on particle–wave scattering. Further work is needed to investigate the relative importance of these two instabilities in the nonlinear, saturated regime and to develop a physical understanding of the effective CR transport coefficients in large-scale CR hydrodynamics theories.

Keywords

astrophysical plasmasplasma instabilitiesspace plasma physics
Type
Letter
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 89 , Issue 6 , December 2023 , 175890603
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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