New simulations partially made on the ATERUI II supercomputer in Japan have found that the reason ions have higher temperatures than electrons in space plasma is because they are better at absorbing energy. -in from turbulent dense changes in the plasma. This discovery has important effects for understanding the observation of a number of astronomical objects such as the images of the collection disk and the shadow of the terrible M87 black hole captured by the Event Horizon Telescope.
In addition to the three normal states (solid, liquid, and gas) that we see around us every day, there is an additional state called plasma that exists only at high temperatures. Under these conditions, electrons separate from their parent atoms leaving well-charged ions. In space plasma, the electrons and ions rarely collide, meaning that they can live in different conditions, such as at different temperatures. However, there is no clear reason why they should have a different temperature unless they are affected differently by some force. So it has long been a mystery why ions are hotter than electricity in space plasma.
One way to heat plasma is by temptation. Chaotic fluctuations in vibration mix smoothly with particles, and then their energy is converted into heat. To find out the roles of different types of variables in plasma heating, an international team led by Yohei Kawazura at Tohoku University in Japan made the world’s first simulations of space plasma involving two types variables, transverse oscillations of magnetic field lines and late oscillations of pressure. . They used nonlinear hybrid gyrokinetic simulations that are particularly good at shaping slow changes. These simulations were performed on several supercomputers, including ATERUI II at the National Astronomical Observatory in Japan.
The results showed that the long-term variables are similar to mixing with ions but leaving electrons. On the other hand the transverse variables can mix with both ion and electricity. “Surprisingly, the late variables are picky about the partner species to mix with,” says Kawazura. This is a key result for understanding ion-to-electron heating ratios in plasmas observed in space, so around the supermassive black hole in Galaxy M87.
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