Numerical simulations of weakly collisional plasmas in E × B fields

We study the stability of weakly collisional, magnetized plasmas in the presence of the E × B fields with self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations. Collisional interactions with a neutral background can lead to distorted, unstable velocity distributions. In the case of charge-exchange collisions, we observe the formation of a ring-shape velocity distribution for ions. For elastic ion-neutral collisions the ion velocity distribution is distorted and broadened. In both cases, after one gyroperiod, we observe a significant increase in the fluctuations in potential, which can be related to the instability growth. In the saturated frequency-wavenumber spectrum, nonlinear three-wave interaction is observed.