Research Projects

Electron scale and ion scale turbulence are observed in various plasmas, including laboratory and space plasmas. These turbulent spectra have common universal properties, such as breakpoints and different spectral slopes. For example, ion scale spectra in laser-plasma interactions resemble those in solar wind turbulence, likely due to kinetic Alfvén waves (KAW). Electron dominated spectra in laser-produced plasmas have scales of the order of electron skin depth, while dissipation range spectra in solar wind may be due to whistler wave nonlinear dynamics or nonlinear KAW dynamics. This project aims to develop models based on nonlinear waves, particularly nonlinear KAW and whistler waves. Nonlinear model equations will be developed, including kinetic effects terms for KAW, and nonlinear whistler dynamical equations will be developed using Electron Magnetohydrodynamic (EMHD). These equations will be solved numerically using the pseudo-spectral method and finite difference method to study the nonlinear structures of involved waves at different scales and turbulent spectra. The results of simulations will be correlated with available observations.