12–23 Jul 2021
Online
Europe/Berlin timezone

A Kinetic Study of the Saturation of the Bell Instability

16 Jul 2021, 12:00
1h 30m
03

03

Poster CRI | Cosmic Ray Indirect Discussion

Speaker

Mr Georgios Zacharegkas (University of Chicago)

Description

The nonresonant streaming (Bell) instability plays a crucial role in the confinement and acceleration of cosmic rays (CRs), but the mechanism ultimately responsible for its saturation has never been determined from first principles. We present 1D, 2D, and 3D hybrid (kinetic ions and fluid electrons) plasma simulations in which the saturation of the Bell instability is studied as a function of the CR current. We derive a prescription for the value of the amplified magnetic field at saturation, also providing a theoretical explanation for it. These results provide the necessary tools to self-consistently incorporate CR-driven magnetic field amplification into fluid simulations and analytical calculations.

Keywords

Magnetic field amplification; Particle acceleration; Bell instability; Kinetic simulations; Cosmic rays; Plasma; Nonresonant instabilities

Subcategory Theoretical Results

Primary author

Mr Georgios Zacharegkas (University of Chicago)

Co-authors

Dr Damiano Caprioli (University of Chicago) Dr Colby Haggerty (University of Hawaii) Dr Siddhartha Gupta (University of Chicago)

Presentation materials