Elements of kinetic theory

• Introduction
• Phase space density
• Equations of motion
• Average distribution function
• Boltzmann-Vlasov equation
• Velocity distribution functions
• Moments and fluid variables
• The kinetic plasma temperature

Introduction

Kinetic theory describes the plasma statistically, i.e. the

collective behaviour of the various particles under the
influence of their self-generated electromagnetic fields.

Collective behaviour and complexity arises from:

• Many particles (species: electrons, protons, heavy ions)
• Long-range self-consistent fields, B(x,t) and E(x,t)
• Fields are averages over the microscopic fields and
generated by all particles together
• Strong mutual interactions between fields and particles
may lead to nonlinearities

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 Phase space

Six-dimensional phase
space with coordinates
axes x and v and
volume element dxdv

Many particles (i=1, N) having time-

dependent position xi(t) and velocity
vi(t). The particle path at subsequent
times (t1,.., t5) is a curve in phase
space (see illustration right figure).

Phase space density

For each individual particle (index i) we may define the exact

density in phase space through sharp three-dimensional delta
functions ( δ(x) = δ(x) δ(y) δ(z) ) as follows:

The multi-particle density is simply obtained by summation over all particles (of
all components). The geometrical content is that the phase-space volume occupied
consists of the sum of all individual phase-space volume elements.

Since particles are subject to the action of forces (different

for different particles), the total phase-space volume will
deform but remain constant (particle number conservation).

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 Equation of motion with electromagnetic forces

Deformation of dxdv due

to microscopic force.
(3-d: dv=d3v=dvxdvydvz)

The instantaneous velocity is

vi=dxi(t)/dt, with the total derivate
with respect to time. Denoting the
microscopic field by index m, the
equation of motion reads:

Maxwell equations

Ampère, Faraday,
Gauß
Microscopic
electromagnetic fields

Microscopic charge
and current densities

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 Klimontovich equation

If no particles are lost from or added to the plasma the

exact phase space density is conserved. Thus the total
time derivative

vanishes, and is in 6-d phase

space given after the chain rule
of differentiation as follows:

This still describes the plasma state fully at all times.

Boltzmann equation

We now define an ensemble averaged phase space density,

the distribution function, through the decomposition:

with vanishing fluctuations: = 0.

Similarly, the microscopic field is decomposed:

Inserting these decompositions into the Klimontovich equation yields after

ensemble averaging the Boltzmann equation.

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 Models for the collision terms
The second-order term on the right of the Boltzmann equation contains
all correlations between fields and particles, due to collisions and (wave-)
fluctuation-particle interactions, and is notoriously difficult to evaluate.

Concerning neutral-ion collisions a simple relaxation approach is sometimes

applied, with fn being the velocity distribution function (VDF) of the neutrals,
and νn is their collision frequency:

Collisions (Landau or Fokker-Planck) and wave-particle interactions

can often be described
as a diffusion process:

Vlasov equation
Since most space plasmas are collisionless, we neglect the
right-hand side in the Boltzmann equation and thus obtain
the simplest kinetic equation named after Vlasov:

This equation expresses phase space density

conservation (Liouville theorem) visualised
in the left figure. A volume element evolves
under the Lorentz force like in an
incompressible fluid and remains constant as
the number of particles contained in it.

The Vlasov equation is still

highly nonlinear via closure
with Maxwell‘s equations.

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 Maxwellian velocity distribution function

The general equilibrium VDF in a uniform thermal

plasma is the Maxwellian (Gaussian) distribution.
The average velocity spread (variance) is, <v>
= (2kBT/m)1/2, and the mean drift velocity, v0.

Anisotropic model velocity distributions

The most common anisotropic VDF in a uniform thermal plasma is the bi-
Maxwellian distribution. Left figure shows a sketch of it, with T⊥ > T ⎢⎢.

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 Loss-cone model distribution function

Here Δ and β are parameters to fit the

loss cone. Δ=0 gives an empty loss
cone, and Δ=1 reproduces a simple
Maxwellian. β allows to change the
slope of f inside the loss cone.

Kappa and power-law distribution function

Differential particle flux

function, J(W) ~ v2 f(v),
with W=mv2/2.

Here κ is a shape parameter. If κ >> 1, the distribution approaches a Maxwellian, κ

= 2 is a Lorentzian, and for small κ > 2 the VDF has a power-law tail in proportion
to (W /W0)-κ, with the average thermal energy W0=kBT (1-3/(2κ)).

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 Measured solar wind proton velocity distributions

• Temperature anisotropies
• Ion beams
• Plasma instabilities
• Interplanetary heating

Plasma measurements made

at 10 s resolution
( > 0.29 AU from the Sun)

Marsch et al., JGR, 87, 52, 1982

Helios

Measured solar wind electrons

Helios

Sun

ne = 3 -10 cm-3

• Non-Maxwellian
• Heat flux tail
Pilipp et al., JGR, 92, 1075, 1987

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 Velocity moments I

The microsopic distribution depends on v, x, and t. The

macroscopic physical parameters, like density or
temperature, depend only on x and t and thus are obtained
by integration over the entire velocity space as so-called
moments. The i-th moment is the following integral:

Where vi = vv...v (i-fold) denotes an i-fold dyadic product,

i.e. a tensor of rank i.

Velocity moments II

The number density is defined as 0-th order moment:

The bulk flow velocity is defined as 1-st order moment:

The pressure tensor is defined as the fluctuation of the

velocities of the ensemble from the mean velocity, i.e.
as the 2-nd order moment:

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 Velocity moments III

The trace-less parts of the pressure tensor P correspond to

the stresses in the plasma.

The heat flux tensor is used to describe the multi-directional

flow of internal energy and defined as 3-rd order moment:

More relevant to decribe deviations from thermal equilibrium

is half the trace of Q, the heat flux vector, q, that is defined as:

Concept of temperature
The isotropic scalar pressure is defined as a third of the trace of P, i.e.
p = 1/3 Pii, which leads through the ideal gas law, p = nkBT, to the
kinetic temperature defined as 2-nd moment:

This temperature can formally be calculated for any VDF and thus is not
necessarily identical with the thermodynamic temperature. To demonstrate
its meaning, calculate the kinetic temperature for the Maxwellian at rest:

Note that by integration, with the

volume element d3v = 4πv2dv,
one finds (exercise!) that

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