Perpendicular transport of energetic charged particles in nonaxisymmetric two-component magnetic turbulence

Abstract

We examine energetic charged particle diffusion perpendicular to a mean magnetic field B0 due to turbulent fluctuations in a plasma, relaxing the common assumption of axisymmetry around B0 and varying the ratio of two fluctuation components, a slab component with parallel wavenumbers and a two-dimensional (2D) component with perpendicular wavenumbers. We perform computer simulations mostly for 80% 2D and 20% slab energy and a fluctuation amplitude on the order of B0. The nonlinear guiding center (NLGC) theory provides a reasonable description of asymptotic perpendicular diffusion as a function of the nonaxisymmetry and particle energy. These values are roughly proportional to the particle speed times the field line diffusion coefficient, with a prefactor that is much lower than in the classical field line random walk model of particle diffusion. NLGC predicts a prefactor in closer agreement with simulations. Next we consider extreme fluctuation anisotropy and the approach to reduced dimensionality. For 99% slab fluctuation energy, field line trajectories are diffusive, but the particle motion is subdiffusive. For 99% 2D fluctuation energy, both field lines and particle motions are initially subdiffusive and then diffusive, but NLGC gives unreliable results. The time dependence of the running particle diffusion coefficient shows that in all cases asymptotic diffusion is preceded by free streaming and subdiffusion, but the latter differs from standard compound subdiffusion. We can model the time profiles in terms of a decaying negative correlation of the perpendicular velocity due to the possibility of backtracking along magnetic field lines. © 2008. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.