A note on the Weibel instability and thermal fluctuations
The thermal fluctuation level of the Weibel instability is recalculated. It is shown that the divergence of the fluctuations at long wavelengths, i.e. the Weibel infrared catastrophe, never occurs. At large wavelengths the thermal fluctuation level is terminated by the presence of even the smalle...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2012-02-01
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| Series: | Annales Geophysicae |
| Online Access: | https://www.ann-geophys.net/30/427/2012/angeo-30-427-2012.pdf |
| Summary: | The thermal fluctuation level of the Weibel instability is recalculated. It
is shown that the divergence of the fluctuations at long wavelengths, i.e.
the Weibel infrared catastrophe, never occurs. At large wavelengths the
thermal fluctuation level is terminated by the presence of even the smallest
available stable thermal anisotropy. Weibel fields penetrate only one skin
depth into the plasma. When excited inside, they cause layers of antiparallel
fields of skin depth width and vortices which may be subject to reconnection. |
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| ISSN: | 0992-7689 1432-0576 |