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Relativistic thermal electron scale instabilities in sheared flow plasma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2016

Evan D. Miller Open the ORCID record for Evan D. Miller [Opens in a new window]  and
Barrett N. Rogers
Evan D. Miller*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Barrett N. Rogers
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: evanmiller124@gmail.com
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Abstract

The linear dispersion relation obeyed by finite-temperature, non-magnetized, relativistic two-fluid plasmas is presented, in the special case of a discontinuous bulk velocity profile and parallel wave vectors. It is found that such flows become universally unstable at the collisionless electron skin-depth scale. Further analyses are performed in the limits of either free-streaming ions or ultra-hot plasmas. In these limits, the system is highly unstable in the parameter regimes associated with either the electron scale Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (ESKHI) or the relativistic electron scale sheared flow instability (RESI) recently highlighted by Gruzinov. Coupling between these modes provides further instability throughout the remaining parameter space, provided both shear flow and temperature are finite. An explicit parameter space bound on the highly unstable region is found.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , 905820205
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Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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