Stabilisation of short-wavelength instabilities by parallel-to-the-field shear in long-wavelength $\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{B}$ flows

TL;DR

This paper investigates how long-wavelength $ extbf{E} imes extbf{B}$ flows influence short-wavelength instabilities in magnetized plasma turbulence, revealing suppression mechanisms and conditions for different multiscale interaction regimes.

Contribution

It demonstrates that long-wavelength turbulence can suppress short-wavelength instabilities through shear and density gradient modifications, and introduces a parameterization for near-marginal stability conditions.

Findings

Short-wavelength instabilities are suppressed by long-wavelength turbulence.

Shearing by $ extbf{E} imes extbf{B}$ flows reduces instability growth.

Near-marginal stability regimes allow simplified cross-scale interaction models.

Abstract

Magnetised plasma turbulence can have a multiscale character: instabilities driven by mean temperature gradients drive turbulence at the disparate scales of the ion and the electron gyroradii. Simulations of multiscale turbulence, using equations valid in the limit of infinite scale separation, reveal novel cross-scale interaction mechanisms in these plasmas. In the case that both long-wavelength (ion-gyroradius-scale) and short-wavelength (electron-gyroradius-scale) linear instabilities are driven far from marginal stability, we show that the short-wavelength instabilities are suppressed by interactions with long-wavelength turbulence. The observed suppression is a result of two effects: parallel-to-the-field-line shearing by the long wavelength $\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{B}$ flows, and the modification of the background density gradient by long-wavelength fluctuations. In contrast, simulations of multiscale turbulence where instabilities at both scales are driven near marginal stability demonstrate that when the long-wavelength turbulence is sufficiently collisional and zonally dominated the effect of cross-scale interaction can be parameterised solely in terms of the local modifications to the mean density and temperature gradients. We discuss physical arguments that qualitatively explain how a change in equilibrium drive leads to the observed transition in the impact of the cross-scale interactions.