A 10-moment multi-fluid model for partially magnetized plasmas*

Fluid moment models are attractive to plasma modellers because of their significant computational advantage over higher-fidelity kinetic models. However, real plasmas exhibit a number of phenomena that traditional equilibrium fluid models are incapable of capturing, e.g., Landau damping, Bernstein modes and the Weibel instability. Especially in the presence of magnetic field, anisotropic transport can lead to deviation from local equilibrium (Maxwellian velocity distribution function), when collisional timescales are comparable to the dynamical timescales. In this study, we present the results from applying a 10-moment multi-fluid model, which can capture the evolution of a full pressure tensor, in addition to density and bulk velocity. The model is applied to a low temperature plasma test case, the (electrostatic) discharge plasma of a Hall-effect thruster [1], and a high temperature plasma test case, the electromagnetic Weibel instability. The results are compared to previous studies [2,3] and theory [4].

[1] Kuldinow, Derek A., et al. J. Comp. Phys. 508 (2024): 113030.

[2] Sahu, Mansour, and Hara, Phys. Plasmas 27, 113505 (2020)

[3] Yamashita, Lau, and Hara, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 56, 384003 (2023)

[4] Basu, B. Phys. Plasmas 9.12 (2002): 5131-5134.