High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · arXiv:1402.0010 v2 · submitted 31 Jan 2014
Firehose and Mirror Instabilities in a Collisionless Shearing Plasma
The paper says
“Our results impact theories of momentum and heat transport in astrophysical and space plasmas, in which the stretching of a magnetic field by shear is a generic process.”
from the abstract · picked out as the main claim by a classifier
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The paper
Abstract
Hybrid-kinetic numerical simulations of firehose and mirror instabilities in a collisionless plasma are performed in which pressure anisotropy is driven as the magnetic field is changed by a persistent linear shear S. For a decreasing field, it is found that mostly oblique firehose fluctuations grow at ion Larmor scales and saturate with energies ∼S1/2; the pressure anisotropy is pinned at the stability threshold by particle scattering off microscale fluctuations. In contrast, nonlinear mirror fluctuations are large compared to the ion Larmor scale and grow secularly in time; marginality is maintained by an increasing population of resonant particles trapped in magnetic mirrors. After one shear time, saturated order-unity magnetic mirrors are formed and particles scatter off their sharp edges. Both instabilities drive sub-ion-Larmor–scale fluctuations, which appear to be kinetic-Alfvén-wave turbulence. Our results impact theories of momentum and heat transport in astrophysical and space plasmas, in which the stretching of a magnetic field by shear is a generic process.
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abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
How the main claim is stated: asserted 0.89
What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.03 · states limitation 0.09 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.05 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.89 · compares with prior results 0.11 · mentions code or data availability 0.02
The abstract, sentence by sentence
This table labels the abstract only (arXiv listing abstract v2). The number is the probability the classifier gave the label.
| Sentence | Role | The authors' own work | States the main conclusion | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid-kinetic numerical simulations of firehose and mirror instabilities in a collisionless plasma are performed in which pressure anisotropy is driven as the magnetic field is changed by a persistent linear shear $S$. | method 0.57 | 0.95 | 0.05 | asserted 0.97 |
| For a decreasing field, it is found that mostly oblique firehose fluctuations grow at ion Larmor scales and saturate with energies $\sim$$S^{1/2}$; the pressure anisotropy is pinned at the stability threshold by particle scattering off microscale fluctuations. | result 1.00 | 0.95 | 0.21 | asserted 1.00 |
| In contrast, nonlinear mirror fluctuations are large compared to the ion Larmor scale and grow secularly in time; marginality is maintained by an increasing population of resonant particles trapped in magnetic mirrors. | result 1.00 | 0.91 | 0.20 | asserted 1.00 |
| After one shear time, saturated order-unity magnetic mirrors are formed and particles scatter off their sharp edges. | result 1.00 | 0.91 | 0.10 | asserted 1.00 |
| Both instabilities drive sub-ion-Larmor--scale fluctuations, which appear to be kinetic-Alfv\'{e}n-wave turbulence. | result 0.96 | 0.89 | 0.16 | hedged possibility 0.88 |
| Our results impact theories of momentum and heat transport in astrophysical and space plasmas, in which the stretching of a magnetic field by shear is a generic process. | interpretation 1.00 | 0.26 | 0.17 | asserted 0.89 |
What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: simulation study 1.00 · evidence from simulation or computation 1.00
What was examined, and what was not
Sources read
- arXiv listing abstract v2
Not examined
- full text
- figures and tables
- references and citing sentences
- relations to other papers
Levels run
- P abstract
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- S sections
- T body sentences
- C citations
- R cross-paper relations
How the labels were made
Compiled by classifier-1.13-20260917 via OpenRouter, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 5,074 input tokens, $0.0002 reported.
Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. This record as JSON
Cited by 6 Pith papers
Reviewed papers on Pith that cite this one. The full citation record
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- Transport of electrons in tangled magnetic fields physics.space-ph · May 2026
How later papers used it
77 later papers cite it
2 later papers by other authors are listed below: 1 used its method or tool and 1 cited it as support.
Uses its method or tool 1 of 2 papers with this label
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Used the predictor-predictor-corrector algorithm from this paper, which requires two predictions for the electric and magnetic fields at an intermediate time-step.
AHKASH: a new Hybrid particle-in-cell code for simulations of astrophysical collisionless plasma (2024) · 0.98 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
Cites it as support 1 of 9 papers with this label
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Said that the dependence of the scattering rate on beta is seen in kinetic simulations of velocity space instabilities in a shearing plasma, citing this paper as an example.
Evolution of Accretion Discs around a Kerr Black Hole using Extended Magnetohydrodynamics (2015) · 0.95 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
How the literature uses it
12 arXiv papers cite this in 19 sentences
Papers citing it · 17 sentences without a confident label
Cites it as background 2 papers
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Pressure anisotropy can reduce the effective magnetic tension through invariants proposed by Chew–Goldberger–Low (CGL) model [ref] and can drive firehose or mirror instabilities near kinetic scales [ref] .
Inverse Transfer in Non-helical 2D Collisionless Magnetic Turbulence: Island-Merger Picture with Kinetic Effects · Introduction · 0.89
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A possible mechanism for the creation of magnetic holes is the mirror-mode instability, which is a non-propagating electromagnetic plasma instability [ref] .
Whistler Waves As a Signature of Converging Magnetic Holes in Space Plasmas · Introduction · 0.83
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