Physics of Plasmas
Feedback | Help | Exit
Physics of Plasmas
Search:
   
 
 
 
Previous Article
Kinetic theory for the ion humps at the foot of the Earth's bow shock
The nonlinear kinetic theory is presented for the ion acoustic perturbations at the foot of the Earth's quasiperpendicular bow shock, that is characterized by weakly magnetized electrons and unmagneti...
Next Article
Kinetic Alfvén waves turbulence in the Earth's magnetosphere
The numerical simulations of the model equation governing the nonlinear dynamics of kinetic Alfvén waves in the intermediate- plasmas are performed. When the nonlinearity arises due to the pond...

Quasi-thermal noise in space plasma: “kappa” distributions

Phys. Plasmas 16, 102903 (2009); doi:10.1063/1.3243495

Published 9 October 2009

You are not logged in to this journal. Log in

G. Le Chat,1 K. Issautier,1 N. Meyer-Vernet,1 I. Zouganelis,2 M. Maksimovic,1 and M. Moncuquet1
1LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, UPMC, Université Paris Diderot, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon, France
2Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, UPMC, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, Univ. Paris 11, 4 avenue de Neptune, 94107 Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France
The transport of energy in collisionless plasmas, especially in space plasmas, is far from being understood. Measuring the temperature of the electrons and their nonthermal properties can give important clues to understand the transport properties. Quasi-thermal noise (QTN) spectroscopy is a reliable tool for measuring accurately the electron density and temperature since it is less sensitive to the spacecraft perturbations than particle detectors. This work models the plasma QTN using a generalized Lorentzian (“kappa”) distribution function for the electrons. This noise is produced by the quasi-thermal fluctuations of the electrons and by the Doppler-shifted thermal fluctuations of the ions. A sum of two Maxwellian functions has mainly been used for modeling the QTN of the electrons, but the observations have shown that the electrons are better fitted by a kappa distribution function. Pioneer work on QTN calculation only considered integer values of kappa. This paper extends these calculations to real values of kappa and gives the analytic expressions and numerical calculations of the QTN with a kappa distribution function. This paper shows some generic properties and gives some practical consequences for plasma wave measurements in space. ©2009 American Institute of Physics
History: Received 15 July 2009; accepted 14 September 2009; published 9 October 2009
Permalink: http://link.aip.org/link/?PHPAEN/16/102903/1
BUY THIS ARTICLE   (US$24)
Download PDF (142 kB) View Cart

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords
PACS

RELATED DATABASES


To view database links for this article,
you need to log in.
To view database links for this article,
you need to log in.

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN:
1070-664X (print)   1089-7674 (online)
Publisher:
AIP is a member of CrossRef AIP

REFERENCES (22)
View in Separate Window/Tab
For access to fully linked references, you need to log in. For access to fully linked references, you need to Log in.
  1. N. Rostoker, Nucl. Fusion 1, 101 (1961).
  2. N. Meyer-Vernet, S. Hoang, K. Issautier, M. Maksimovic, R. Manning, M. Moncuquet, and R. G. Stone, Measurement Techniques in Space Plasmas: Fields, Geophysical Monograph No. 103 (AGU, Washington, D.C., 1998), p. 205.
  3. K. Issautier, N. Meyer-Vernet, M. Moncuquet, S. Hoang, and D. J. McComas, J. Geophys. Res. 104, 6691, doi:10.1029/1998JA900165 (1999).
  4. M. Maksimovic, I. Zouganelis, J. Chaufray, K. Issautier, E. E. Scime, J. E. Littleton, E. Marsch, D. J. McComas, C. Salem, R. P. Lin, and H. Elliott, J. Geophys. Res. 110, A09104, doi:10.1029/2005JA011119 (2005).
  5. V. M. Vasyliunas, J. Geophys. Res. 73, 2839, doi:10.1029/JA073i009p02839 (1968).
  6. S. Olbert, Physics of the Magnetosphere, Astrophysics and Space Science Library Vol. 10, edited by R. D. Carovillano, J. F. McClay, and H. R. Radoski (Springer, Berlin, 1968), p. 641.
  7. Y. F. Chateau and N. Meyer-Vernet, J. Geophys. Res. 96, 5825, doi:10.1029/90JA02565 (1991).
  8. A. G. Sitenko, Electromagnetic Fluctuations in Plasma (Academic, New York, 1967).
  9. Y. F. Chateau and N. Meyer-Vernet, J. Geophys. Res. 94, 15407, doi:10.1029/JA094iA11p15407 (1989).
  10. N. Meyer-Vernet and C. Perche, J. Geophys. Res. 94, 2405, doi:10.1029/JA094iA03p02405 (1989).
  11. I. Zouganelis, J. Geophys. Res. 113, A08111, doi:10.1029/2007JA012979 (2008).
  12. F. Valentini and R. D'Agosta, Phys. Plasmas 14, 092111 (2007).
  13. R. Silva, A. R. Plastino, and J. A. S. Lima, Phys. Lett. A 249, 401 (1998).
  14. M. P. Leubner, Astrophys. Space Sci. 282, 573 (2002).
  15. J. A. S. Lima, R. Silva, and A. R. Plastino, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2938 (2001).
  16. F. M. Ramos, R. R. Rosa, and L. A. W. Bambace, Physica A 344, 626 (2004).
  17. A. R. Plastino, C. Giordano, A. Plastino, and M. Casas, Physica A 336, 376 (2004).
  18. C. Tsallis, J. Stat. Phys. 52, 479 (1988).
  19. B. D. Shizgal, Astrophys. Space Sci. 312, 227 (2007).
  20. I. Zouganelis, M. Maksimovic, N. Meyer-Vernet, S. D. Bale, J. P. Eastwood, A. Zaslavsky, M. Dekkali, K. Goetz, and M. L. Kaiser, “Measurements of stray antenna capacitance in the STEREO/WAVES instrument: Comparison of the measured voltage spectrum with an antenna electron shot noise model,” Radio Sci. (in press).
  21. N. Meyer-Vernet, S. Hoang, K. Issautier, M. Moncuquet, and G. Marcos, Radio Astronomy at Long Wavelengths, Geophysical Monograph No. 119 (AGU, Washington, D.C., 2000), p. 67.
  22. N. Meyer-Vernet, Geophys. Res. Lett. 21, 397, doi:10.1029/94GL00197 (1994).

CITING ARTICLES
For access to citing articles, you need to log in.
For access to citing articles, you need to Log in.


Copyright © American Institute of Physics