On the kinetic theory of turbulence in plasmas

TL;DR

This paper develops a kinetic theory framework for plasma turbulence, introducing a nonlinear turbulence scattering term derived from the Vlasov equation that captures stochastic dissipation and links various turbulence regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a new nonlinear turbulence scattering term in the kinetic theory of plasmas, connecting different turbulence regimes and revealing symmetry and spectral shift properties.

Findings

Derivation of a nonlinear turbulence scattering term from the Vlasov equation.

Identification of connections between Kadomtsev-Pogutse's and Frieman-Chen's equations.

Revealing Onsager symmetry and spectral shift in turbulent plasma transport.

Abstract

From the nonlinear (NL) Vlasov equation, a NL turbulence scattering term is found to describe the stochastic dissipation on the time scale longer than the turbulence correlation time. The evolution of the plasma distribution is determined by the well-understood unperturbed motion of charged particles, with the effects of fluctuating part of fields described by the turbulence scattering term. In the new framework, one can identify various important physics, covering from the linear and quasilinear to the NL regime; in particular, the connections between the widely used Kadomtsev-Pogutse's equation and Frieman-Chen's equation. The NL scattering term indicates the Onsager symmetry relation of turbulent transport and a NL frequency or k spectrum shift of a resonantly excited wave.