Computational and theoretical study of nonlinear kinetic transport properties of lower hybrid drift instabilities in low-beta plasmas

Collisionless low-beta plasmas limit the performance of pulsed power inertial confinement fusion experiments. These plasmas, which are governed by nonlinear kinetic physics, lead to breakdown of magnetic insulation and give rise to parasitic currents that affect load dynamics. The plasmas are subject to acceleration-driven and gradient-driven microinstabilities that strongly influence transport properties. To characterize the nonlinear plasma state, a self-consistent quasilinear model is developed for a current-carrying two-species magnetized plasma undergoing the lower hybrid drift instability. The model fully captures gyromotion, encapsulates velocity-space diffusion for both ions and electrons, and self-consistently tracks electric field energy density. The coupled nonlinear velocity-space diffusion model is solved numerically and is validated using fourth-order continuum kinetic Vlasov-Poisson simulations facilitated by the code VCK. The computational study sheds light on nonlinear transport properties and on the degree to which they can be captured by weak turbulence theory.