Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 15, 1401002 (2020)

Regular Articles

Stability of Contact Discontinuities in Electrostatic Hybrid- and Full-Vlasov Simulations
Naru TSUJINE, Takayuki HARUKI1), Takayuki UMEDA2), Yasuhiro NARIYUKI3) and Masahiro SATO4)
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
1)
Faculty of Sustainable Design, Academic Assembly, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
2)
Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
3)
Faculty of Education, Academic Assembly, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
4)
Faculty of Engineering, Academic Assembly, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
(Received 12 November 2019 / Accepted 29 November 2019 / Published 17 February 2020)

Abstract

The stability of contact discontinuities was studied by means of one-dimensional electrostatic (ES) hybrid- and full-Vlasov simulations with the initial parameter based on observational data. The ES hybrid-Vlasov simulations show that the sharp gradient of the ion number density is generated at the early stage and is subsequently maintained for a long term. On the other hand, the sharp gradient is absent in the ES full-Vlasov simulation. The generalized Ohm's law shows that the electron pressure gradient accounts for the electric field on the ion time scale in both ES hybrid- and full-Vlasov simulations. It is shown that there is a difference in the time evolution of the electron pressure between the ES hybrid- and full-Vlasov simulations, which is mainly caused by the electron heat flux.

Keywords

contact discontinuity, hybrid simulation, Vlasov simulation, generalized Ohm's law, electron pressure, electron heat flux

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.15.1401002

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