Fluid and Kinetic Instabilities in Astrophysical and Space Plasmas

  • 2,846

    Total downloads

  • 23k

    Total views and downloads

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

Instabilities are ubiquitous in astrophysical and space plasmas. From the largest molecular clouds to the velocity distribution function of particles in the heliosphere, instabilities are key to understanding properties of the partially or fully ionized gas which constitutes most of the observable Universe. At the largest, fluid scales, they drive systems out of equilibrium, enabling energy conversion. In stellar convective zones, magneto-convective instabilities lead to dynamo action that provides a way to sustain large scale magnetic fields against ohmic dissipation. In accretion disks, the magneto-rotational instability is believed to trigger a turbulent cascade within the sheared Keplerian structure leading to dissipation, angular momentum transport and wind launching, changing the accretion dynamics. The Weibel instability is considered a possible mechanism for the production of long-lived magnetic fields and energetic particles in GRBs and pulsar winds, and also plays an important role in the downstream region of relativistic collisionless shocks. Heat flux instabilities contribute to heat flux regulation in the solar wind. The fast tearing mode instability, leading to plasmoid formation, enables rapid reconnection in collisional and collisionless plasmas, playing a fundamental role in magnetic energy conversion and particle acceleration from heliospheric to extragalactic plasmas.

Instabilities are often closely related to the onset of cascading processes, as astrophysical flows rarely possess enough dissipative mechanisms at large scales, and are characterized by very high Reynolds (or Lundquist) numbers. At the smallest, kinetic scales, instabilities are a fundamental self-regulatory process. In weakly collisional flows, like the solar wind, mirror, whistler, cyclotron and firehose instabilities are observed to limit temperature anisotropies, effectively preventing the velocity distribution function from evolving too far away from an isotropic Maxwellian distribution and allowing the solar wind to retain fluid-like behavior. Instability onset and early evolution can be studied analytically. Analytical developments are, however, often limited to the linear growth phase, which makes numerical simulations the ideal way to study the non-linear and saturated stage where much of the feedback of the instabilities on the system occur.

Observations and in situ measurements are key to compare and drive simulations and theory. The coming decade will see the results of a new generation of interplanetary missions. The Parker Solar Probe and the Solar Orbiter have already brought measurements of the heliosphere closer to the Sun than ever before, discovering structures that will undoubtedly change our understanding of the solar wind and of the role of instabilities in it. The heliosphere is our best laboratory to study collisionless plasmas and these measurements will unravel behaviors ubiquitously shared by many astrophysical flows.
This Research Topic aims to gather cross-disciplinary contributions on plasma instabilities, in order to foster collaborations among different communities. We welcome advances on instability-driven astrophysical processes through theoretical developments, numerical simulations or observations. They can also tackle methodological aspects, to extract, for instance, information on the transition to the non-linear regime.

This Research Topic has been realized in collaboration with Dr. Munehito Shoda, JSPS Research Fellow at the Solar Science Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Keywords: plasmas, astrophysics, instabilities, theory, numerical simulations, observations

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Participating Journals

Impact

  • 23kTopic views
  • 19kArticle views
  • 2,846Article downloads
View impact