Electron-positron plasmas as an “in-silico probe” for fundamental plasma physics

Abstract

Positrons are routinely used for probing structural properties of matter, but are also a subject of interest in themselves. An electron-positron plasma is the most fundamental sustained macroscopic matter-antimatter system achievable in a laboratory and may be effectively confined by magnetic fields. Such a magnetized electron-positron plasma would allow to study fundamental plasma physics processes and their manifestation in mass-symmetric pair plasmas. Some particular models for drift instabilities and turbulence in magnetized electron-positron plasmas, which may impact on transport losses and confinement of planned experiments, are reviewed. We further discuss how studying electron-positron plasmas by experiment, theory and (“in silico”) simulation can facilitate validation of general fundamental plasma physics principles and models.Positrons are routinely used for probing structural properties of matter, but are also a subject of interest in themselves. An electron-positron plasma is the most fundamental sustained macroscopic matter-antimatter system achievable in a laboratory and may be effectively confined by magnetic fields. Such a magnetized electron-positron plasma would allow to study fundamental plasma physics processes and their manifestation in mass-symmetric pair plasmas. Some particular models for drift instabilities and turbulence in magnetized electron-positron plasmas, which may impact on transport losses and confinement of planned experiments, are reviewed. We further discuss how studying electron-positron plasmas by experiment, theory and (“in silico”) simulation can facilitate validation of general fundamental plasma physics principles and models.