Neutral and non-neutral collisionless plasma equilibria for twisted flux tubes : the Gold-Hoyle model in a background field
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Date
09/2016Funder
Grant ID
ST/K000950/1
ST/N000609/1
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Abstract
We calculate exact one-dimensional collisionless plasma equilibria for a continuum of flux tube models, for which the total magnetic field is made up of the `force-free' Gold-Hoyle magnetic flux tube embedded in a uniform and anti-parallel background magnetic field. For a sufficiently weak background magnetic field, the axial component of the total magnetic field reverses at some finite radius. The presence of the background magnetic field means that the total system is not exactly force-free, but by reducing its magnitude the departure from force-free can be made as small as desired. The distribution function for each species is a function of the three constants of motion; namely the Hamiltonian and the canonical momenta in the axial and azimuthal directions. Poisson's Equation and Amp ere's Law are solved exactly, and the solution allows either electrically neutral or non-neutral configurations, depending on the values of the bulk ion and electron flows. These equilibria have possible applications in various solar, space and astrophysical contexts, as well as in the laboratory.
Citation
Allanson , O D , Wilson , F & Neukirch , T 2016 , ' Neutral and non-neutral collisionless plasma equilibria for twisted flux tubes : the Gold-Hoyle model in a background field ' , Physics of Plasmas , vol. 23 , no. 9 , 092106 . https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4962507
Publication
Physics of Plasmas
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1070-664XType
Journal article
Rights
Copyright 2016 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Description
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Science and Technology Facilities Council Consolidated Grants ST/K000950/1 and ST/N000609/1, as well as Doctoral Training Grant ST/K502327/1. We also gratefully acknowledge funding from Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant F/00268/BB.Collections
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