On the analytical description of the nonlinear stage of the Weibel instability in collisionless anisotropic plasma

Abstract

On the basis of the energy invariants for the Weibel instability in a collisionless non-relativistic plasma, an analytical relation is obtained between the instantaneous values of the space-averaged energy density of the magnetic field, its dominant wavenumber and the average plasma anisotropy parameter. The relation is valid for arbitrary particle velocity distribution functions, including ones that vary with time at the nonlinear stage of instability. It is obtained under the assumption that the plasma is homogeneous along a certain axis, determined, for example, by an external magnetic field, and taking into account only the modes with wavevectors orthogonal to this axis. We give an estimate of the maximum magnetic field energy achievable during the Weibel instability and show that its ratio to the initial longitudinal energy of particles, even for a large initial plasma anisotropy parameter, cannot exceed the value approximately equal to 0.2. The obtained analytical relation is verified using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.