A note on the Weibel instability and thermal fluctuations

The thermal fluctuation level of the Weibel instability is recalculated. It is shown that the divergence of the fluctuations at long wavelengths, i.e. the Weibel infrared catastrophe, never occurs. At large wavelengths the thermal fluctuation level is terminated by the presence of even the smallest available stable thermal anisotropy. Weibel fields penetrate only one skin depth into the plasma. When excited inside, they cause layers of antiparallel fields of skin depth width and vortices which may be subject to reconnection.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Ann Geophy

Collisionless reconnection: Mechanism of self-ignition in thin current sheets

The spontaneous onset of magnetic reconnection in thin collisionless current sheets is shown to result from a thermal-anisotropy driven magnetic Weibel-mode, generating seed-magnetic field {\sf X}-points in the centre of the current layer.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, prepared for Annales Geophysica

Ultrarelativistic generalized Lorentzian thermodynamics and the differential cosmic ray energy flux

We apply the ultrarelativistic generalized Lorentzian quasi-equilibrium thermodynamic energy distribution to the energy spectrum of galactic cosmic ray fluxes. The inferred power law slopes contain a component which evolves with cosmic ray energy in steps of thirds, resembling the sequence of structure functions in fully developed Kolmogorov turbulence. Within the generalized thermodynamics the chemical potential can be estimated from the deviation of the fluxes at decreasing energy. Both may throw some light on the cosmic ray acceleration mechanism to very high energies.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, prepared for a Meeting on Cosmic Rays and Power Law Tail

Kinetic theory of information -- the dynamics of information

A kinetic approach to the notion of information is proposed, based on Liouville kinetic theory. The general kinetic equation for the evolution of the N-particle information $\mathcal{I}_N$ in a Hamiltonian system of large particle number $N\gg 1$ is obtained. It is shown that the $N$-particle information is strictly conserved. Defining reduced particle number information densities in phase space should be possible to obtain a kinetic equation for the ordinary one-particle information $\mathcal{I}_1\equiv \mathcal{I}$ following the Bogoliubov prescription. The kinetic equation for $\mathcal{I}$ is a kind of generalized Boltzmann equation with interaction term depending on the hierarchy of reduced informations. This term in its general form is the most general expression for the Kolmogorov entropy rate of evolution of the information.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, accepted in Front. Phy

Incomplete-exclusion Statistical Mechanics in Non-collisional Violent Relaxation of Celestial Objects

Violent relaxation has been proposed half a century ago to bear responsibility for non-collisional dynamics and formation of gravitationally bound systems of extended celestial objects (agglomeration of stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies) when reaching an approximate equilibrium state which can be described thermodynamically. The Lynden-Bell equilibrium distribution of such systems, resulting from a spatial exclusion principle, had been shown to be an analog to the Fermi distribution of states in solid state physics. Real extended objects like galaxies do not completely exclude each other, however. Permitting for partial exclusion leads to a modification of the equilibrium distribution. Here we show that this case can be treated in analogy to a hypothetical incomplete population of Fermi states. An incomplete-exclusion equilibrium distribution is obtained which enters the violent relaxation theory.Comment: 17 pages, no figure

The mirror mode: A "superconducting'' space plasma analogue

We examine the physics of the magnetic mirror mode in its final state of saturation, the thermodynamic equilibrium, to demonstrate that the mirror mode is the analogue of a superconducting effect in a classical anisotropic-pressure space plasma. Two different spatial scales are identified which control the behaviour of its evolution. These are the ion inertial scale $\lambda_{im}(\tau)$ based on the excess density $N_m(\tau)$ generated in the mirror mode, and a correlation length. This can be either the Debye length, the ion gyro-radius, or a turbulent correlation length. The mirror mode equilibrium structure under saturation is determined by the Landau-Ginzburg ratio of these two length scales. Mirror modes then behave like type II superconductors, naturally giving rise to chains of local depletions of the magnetic field of the kind observed in the mirror mode, providing the plasma a short scale magnetic bubble texture. This might be important in the study of magnetic turbulence in plasmas.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure, Discussion paper, to appear in Ann. Geophy