Analysis of plasma oscillations in numerical simulations of a Hall thruster using information theory

Analysis of plasma oscillations in numerical simulations of a Hall thruster using information theory | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Analysis of plasma oscillations in numerical simulations of a Hall thruster using information theory Rodrigo A. Miranda, Sarah G. S. P. Costa, Rodrigo A. Alves, José L. Ferreira This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6346950/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Hall thruster is a technology mainly used for correction of satellite orbits and propulsion for deep-space missions. It has been demonstrated that an instability known as $\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{B}$ electron drift instability (EDI) arises in Hall thrusters, characterized by a high frequency and low wave number, and can be responsible for the enhanced mobility of electrons in the channel. In this work we analyze the microturbulence due to the $\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{B}$ EDI using the spectral entropy, which measures the degree of order/disorder of a system by applying the Shannon information entropy. We perform numerical simulations of an axial-azimuthal two-dimensional model of a Hall thruster using the particle-in-cell method. Simulations are performed using xenon and argon as the neutral gas, and the $\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{B}$ EDI is observed as a large-amplitude wave in the spatial patterns of the azimuthal component of the electric field $E_\phi$ and in the ion density. The spectral entropy of $E_\phi$ computed using two-dimensional data is higher for xenon than argon, which indicates a higher degree of disorder in the azimuthal electric field fluctuations. Hall thruster Instability Spectral entropy Numerical simulation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 18 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 18 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 16 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 01 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 31 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6346950","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":444996536,"identity":"96333d34-0836-4459-b73b-e4b447b19806","order_by":0,"name":"Rodrigo A. Miranda","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAoUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACxgYwxc/AwAZjE6lFsoF4LVBgcIBYLebTDrd9+FFjk298I/fYA8Yd9whrkbmd2Dyz51ia5bYbeekGjGeKCWuRkE5sZuBtOGxgdiPHTIKxLYE4LYx/G/4bGM8gRQszb8MBAwMJkrTIHEs2kDjzxtwg8QxRWtIfM76psTPgb88xe/BxBxFaUAHJGkbBKBgFo2AUYAcAgtw0YPmxIpsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Brasilia","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rodrigo","middleName":"A.","lastName":"Miranda","suffix":""},{"id":444996537,"identity":"e4101156-7175-4146-b593-2d11a98845ba","order_by":1,"name":"Sarah G. S. P. Costa","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Brasilia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sarah","middleName":"G. S. P.","lastName":"Costa","suffix":""},{"id":444996538,"identity":"1bdec4f4-1d54-4b54-ae2c-0b9ef779112a","order_by":2,"name":"Rodrigo A. Alves","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Brasilia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rodrigo","middleName":"A.","lastName":"Alves","suffix":""},{"id":444996539,"identity":"bf0569ee-8221-4028-9322-85478b3c64ce","order_by":3,"name":"José L. Ferreira","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Brasilia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"José","middleName":"L.","lastName":"Ferreira","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-31 17:23:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6346950/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6346950/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81145698,"identity":"328d520f-89b7-435f-a34a-86fda7bf01bb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-22 17:56:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":671562,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"miranda.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6346950/v1_covered_574a179e-bd84-444a-8dec-32bc4933901f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Analysis of plasma oscillations in numerical simulations of a Hall thruster using information theory","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-electric-propulsion","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"joeprop","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Electric Propulsion](https://www.springer.com/journal/44205)","snPcode":"44205","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44205/3","title":"Journal of Electric Propulsion","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Hall thruster, Instability, Spectral entropy, Numerical simulation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6346950/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6346950/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The Hall thruster is a technology mainly used for correction of satellite orbits and propulsion for deep-space missions. It has been demonstrated that an instability known as $\\mathbf{E} \\times \\mathbf{B}$ electron drift instability (EDI) arises in Hall thrusters, characterized by a high frequency and low wave number, and can be responsible for the enhanced mobility of electrons in the channel. In this work we analyze the microturbulence due to the $\\mathbf{E} \\times \\mathbf{B}$ EDI using the spectral entropy, which measures the degree of order/disorder of a system by applying the Shannon information entropy. We perform numerical simulations of an axial-azimuthal two-dimensional model of a Hall thruster using the particle-in-cell method. Simulations are performed using xenon and argon as the neutral gas, and the $\\mathbf{E} \\times \\mathbf{B}$ EDI is observed as a large-amplitude wave in the spatial patterns of the azimuthal component of the electric field $E_\\phi$ and in the ion density. The spectral entropy of $E_\\phi$ computed using two-dimensional data is higher for xenon than argon, which indicates a higher degree of disorder in the azimuthal electric field fluctuations.","manuscriptTitle":"Analysis of plasma oscillations in numerical simulations of a Hall thruster using information theory","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-22 17:32:36","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6346950/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-04-19T00:58:21+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-18T16:25:30+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-16T11:07:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"234650328945786686375879925139133738729","date":"2025-04-03T09:07:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"275403293152633059533734383053638015941","date":"2025-04-02T09:31:22+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-02T04:23:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-04-01T08:08:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-04-01T08:03:58+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Electric Propulsion","date":"2025-03-31T17:18:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-electric-propulsion","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"joeprop","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Electric Propulsion](https://www.springer.com/journal/44205)","snPcode":"44205","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44205/3","title":"Journal of Electric Propulsion","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f9d1317e-4f11-4f8f-9196-e99b7a0add34","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 22nd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-25T15:24:03+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-22 17:32:36","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6346950","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6346950","identity":"rs-6346950","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}