Publications

2025

• Hybrid simulations of Mercury’s global dynamics and the interplanetary ions’ precipitation fluxes under different interplanetary conditions
  
  • Cazzola E.
  • Fontaine D.
  • Modolo Ronan
  Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A, EDP Sciences, 2025, 701, pp.A209. Aims. We aim to quantify the impact of different interplanetary conditions met by Mercury along its orbit between its aphelion (~0.47 AU) and perihelion (~0.31 AU) on the Hermean environment, including the rate of solar-wind ion precipitation onto the surface.Methods. We performed a set of 3D global hybrid simulations (kinetic ions and fluid electrons) with interplanetary conditions taken from recent statistics from observations on board the Parker Solar Probe and MESSENGER missions in such a way as to represent an average scenario at both the aphelion and perihelion positions, and in the cases of a slow (250 km/s) and fast (450 km/s) solar wind.Results. The results are in general agreement with empirical models. However, we have found that the subsolar stand-off distances of magnetopause and bow shock, respectively, in the range of 1.0–1.4 RM and 1.3–2.0 RM, are relatively shorter than global statistical averages of, respectively, 1.45 and 1.96 RM. We also observe a local time (LT) asymmetry in the cusp’s location, with the northern cusp located in the post-noon sector centred around 13–14.3 LT and the southern cusp located in the pre-noon sector centred around 9–10.7 LT. Noticeably, the southern cusp region takes the shape of a parallelogram extended from southern middle latitudes in the pre-noon sector to equatorial latitudes in the post-noon sector. We suggest that these effects could result from the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field along the Parker spiral, which is characterised by an almost radial orientation with a small duskward component. (10.1051/0004-6361/202553953)
  DOI : 10.1051/0004-6361/202553953
• Refining the modeling strategy for anomalous electron transport in fluid simulations of Hall thrusters via insights from PIC simulations
  
  • Petronio Federico
  • Alvarez Laguna Alejandro
  • Guillon Martin Jacques
  • Bourdon Anne
  • Chabert Pascal
  Physics of Plasmas, American Institute of Physics, 2025, 32 (7), pp.073513. Modeling anomalous transport in fluid simulations is a fundamental challenge for developing efficient and robust fluid simulation tools for Hall thrusters. This paper investigates optimal strategies for modeling anomalous transport in such simulations. Using the particle-in-cell (PIC) benchmark (BM) setup of Charoy et al., we demonstrate that various terms in the electron momentum equation can be readily identified. In particular, we show that the assumption of expressing the rate of change of the electron momentum due to instability as proportional to the momentum itself does not hold under these simulation conditions. Subsequently, we present two fluid simulations that replicate the conditions of the PIC BM setup. The first employs the conventional empirical anomalous collision frequency approach. While this model provides generally satisfactory results, it fails to capture specific plasma characteristics. The second fluid model adopts a data-driven approach to represent the anomalous force terms in the momentum equation. This approach furnishes significantly improved results, suggesting that although the anomalous collisionality framework provides meaningful outcomes, it can be effectively replaced by more advanced techniques. (10.1063/5.0274535)
  DOI : 10.1063/5.0274535
• Fast gas heating and peculiarities of temperature measurements by optical emission spectroscopy in nanosecond surface dielectric barrier discharge
  
  • Zhang Bin
  • Kreyder Geoffrey
  • Popov Nikolay
  • Shcherbanev Sergey
  • Starikovskaia Svetlana
  Plasma Sources Science and Technology, IOP Publishing, 2025, 34 (9), pp.095010. The aim of this work is the experimental and theoretical study of nanosecond Surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) parameters in atmospheric pressure air. Measurements of electric current and delivered energy, ICCD images of the discharge at all stages of its evolution, and gas heating in the discharge and near afterglow are performed. The paper presents the results of 2D numerical modeling of the nanosecond SDBD. The results of the calculations are compared with measured data on the dynamics of current, energy input and gas heating. Special attention is paid to the study of the spatial structure of the discharge, in particular, to the distribution of gas temperature and the second positive system emission intensity in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the dielectric. It is shown that the results of temperature measurements in SDBD using optical emission spectroscopy technique are severely influenced by this spatial structure. The parameters of a probe discharge of smaller amplitude, which is formed by a reflected pulse 500 ns after the main discharge, are also calculated. The possibility of using the second diagnostic pulse to measure the gas temperature in the afterglow discharge is discussed. (10.1088/1361-6595/ae00ef)
  DOI : 10.1088/1361-6595/ae00ef
• Survey of the edge radial electric field in L-mode TCV plasmas using Doppler backscattering
  
  • Rienäcker S
  • Hennequin P
  • Vermare L
  • Honoré C
  • Coda S
  • Labit B
  • Vincent Benjamin
  • Wang Y
  • Frassinetti L
  • Panico O
  Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, IOP Publishing, 2025, 67 (6), pp.065003. A Doppler backscattering (DBS) diagnostic has recently been installed on the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) to facilitate the study of edge turbulence and flow shear in a versatile experimental environment. The dual channel V-band DBS system is coupled to TCV’s quasi-optical diagnostic launcher, providing access to the upper low-field side region of the plasma cross-section. Verifications of the DBS measurements are presented. The DBS equilibrium v ⊥ profiles are found to compare favorably with gas puff imaging (GPI) measurements and to the E r inferred from the radial force balance of the carbon impurity. The radial structure of the edge E r × B equilibrium flow and its dependencies are investigated across a representative set of L-mode TCV discharges, by varying density, auxiliary heating and magnetic configuration. (10.1088/1361-6587/add0e0)
  DOI : 10.1088/1361-6587/add0e0
• Phase transition from turbulence to zonal flows in the Hasegawa–Wakatani system
  
  • Guillon P L
  • Gürcan Ö D
  Physics of Plasmas, American Institute of Physics, 2025, 32 (1). The transition between two-dimensional hydrodynamic turbulence and quasi-one-dimensional zonostrophic turbulence is examined in the modified Hasegawa–Wakatani system, which is considered as a minimal model of β-plane-like drift-wave turbulence with an intrinsic instability. Extensive parameter scans were performed across a wide range of values for the adiabaticity parameter C describing the strength of coupling between the two equations. A sharp transition from 2D isotropic turbulence to a quasi-1D system, dominated by zonal flows, is observed using the fraction of the kinetic energy of the zonal modes as the order parameter, at C≈0.1. It is shown that this transition exhibits a hysteresis loop around the transition point, where the adiabaticity parameter plays the role of the control parameter of its nonlinear self-organization. It was also observed that the radial particle flux scales with the adiabaticity parameter following two different power law dependencies in the two regimes. A simple quasi-linear saturation rule which accounts for the presence of zonal flows is proposed, and is shown to agree very well with the observed nonlinear fluxes. Motivated by the phenomenon of quasi-one dimensionalisation of the system at high C, a number of reduction schemes based on a limited number of modes were investigated and the results were compared to direct numerical simulations. In particular, it was observed that a minimal reduced model consisting of 2 poloidal and 2 radial modes was able to replicate the phase transition behavior, while any further reduction failed to capture it. (10.1063/5.0242282)
  DOI : 10.1063/5.0242282
• Characterization of the solar wind context during the third Mercury flyby of BepiColombo
  
  • Rojo M.
  • Réville V.
  • Aizawa S.
  • Varsani A.
  • Schmid D.
  • Jarry M.
  • Rodríguez-García L.
  • Persson M.
  • Rouillard A.
  • Heyner D.
  • Milillo A.
  • André N.
  • Saito Y.
  • Murakami G.
  • Kasper J. C.
  • Bale S. D.
  Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A, EDP Sciences, 2025, 698, pp.A221. Context. The interaction of the solar wind (SW) with the coupled magnetosphere-exosphere-surface of Mercury is complex. Charged particles released by the SW can precipitate along planetary magnetic field lines on specific areas of the surface of the planet. The processes responsible for the particle precipitation strongly depend on the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) upstream of Mercury.Aims. During the third Mercury flyby (MFB3) by BepiColombo, the properties of the SW inferred from BepiColombo observations of a highly compressed magnetosphere corresponded to those of a very dense plasma embedded in a slow SW. The Mercury Electron Analyzer (MEA) measured continuous high-energy electron fluxes in the nightside dawn sector of the compressed magnetosphere. In order to constrain further studies related to the origin of these populations, we aim to firmly confirm the initial inferences and detail the SW properties throughout MFB3.Methods. We took advantage of a close radial alignment between Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and Mercury. We monitored the activity of the Sun using SOHO coronagraphs and we used a potential field source surface model to estimate the location of the magnetic footpoints of PSP and BepiColombo on the photosphere of the Sun. We propagated the plasma parameters and the IMF measured by PSP at BepiColombo, to check if the plasma impacted Mercury.Results. We show that during MFB3, PSP and BepiColombo connected magnetically to the same region at the solar surface. The slow SW perturbation first measured at PSP propagated to Mercury and BepiColombo, as was confirmed by similarly elevated plasma densities measured at PSP and BepiColombo. The IMF orientation stayed southward during the whole MFB3.Conclusions. Our results provide strong constraints for future studies of the magnetospheric structure and dynamics during MFB3, including tail reconnection, electron and ion energization, and subsequent plasma precipitation onto the surface of Mercury. (10.1051/0004-6361/202553870)
  DOI : 10.1051/0004-6361/202553870
• The Solar Orbiter merged magnetic field
  
  • Kretzschmar M.
  • Brochot J.-Y.
  • Horbury T. S.
  • Rackovic K.
  • Maksimovic M.
  • Alexandrova O.
  • Bonnin X.
  • Jannet G.
  • O’brien H.
  • Crabtree A.
  • Morris J.
  • Krasnoselskikh Vladimir
  • Dudok de Wit Thierry
  • Le Contel O.
  • Chust T.
  • de Gelis P.-M.
  • da Silva Gonçalves L.
  • Fauchon-Jones E.
  Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A, EDP Sciences, 2025, 699, pp.A236. Context. In situ studies of the solar wind require precise magnetic field measurements at all frequencies. The Solar Orbiter mission carries two magnetometers to measure the solar wind magnetic field: the fluxgate magnetometer (MAG), which is best suited for frequencies from DC to a few Hertz, and the search coil magnetometer (SCM), which is best suited for frequencies above a few Hertz. Aims: The aim of this paper is to produce a merged magnetic field data product that takes the best of both instruments and provides the community with high quality, easy to use magnetic field data over a wide range of frequencies. Methods: We first compared the two instruments in their overlapping frequency range, then we performed the merging in Fourier space using a weighted function determined by the sensitivity of the two sensors. Results: The two instruments are found to give consistent results in their overlapping frequency range. SCM has a lower gain than MAG by 14% around 1 Hz and MAG is delayed by about 20 ms with respect to SCM, and the merged magnetic field takes care of these discrepancies. It is basically identical to MAG data below 2 Hz and to SCM data above about 15 Hz (with amplitude increased by 14%). We show that the merged magnetic field is suitable to analyse waves and turbulence over a broad frequency range, in particular by confirming that ion cyclotron waves can lower the level of energy at the sub ionic scales. The merged magnetic field is distributed as daily files containing the magnetic field at either 256 or 4096 Hz, and either in the radial-tangential-normal co-ordinates or in the spacecraft reference frame co-ordinates. (10.1051/0004-6361/202554731)
  DOI : 10.1051/0004-6361/202554731