Sergei Vafin Bochum

Kinetic instabilities in counterstreaming bi-Maxwellian plasmas(pdf)

The standard theory of linear plasma kinetic instabilities in magnetized non-relativistic bi-Maxwellian plasmas can not explain the observed solar wind temperature anisotropy at low parallel plasma beta. However, the standard instability criteria experience dramatic changes in bi-Maxwellian plasmas with counterstreams, and can then potentially explain the whole range of the solar wind temperature anisotropy, as it has been recently discovered. Physically the counterstreams gives an additional source of free energy in addition to the temperature anisotropy, and can additionally destabilize plasma kinetic modes.