Pressure tensor in the presence of velocity shear: stationary solutions   and self-consistent equilibria
  Observations and numerical simulations of laboratory and space plasmas in almost collisionless regimes reveal anisotropic and non-gyrotropic particle distribution functions. We investigate how such states can persist in the presence of a sheared flow. We focus our attention on the pressure tensor equation in a magnetized plasma and derive analytical self-consistent plasma equilibria which exhibit a novel asymmetry with respect to the magnetic field direction. These results are relevant for investigating, within fluid models that retain the full pressure tensor dynamics, plasma configurations where a background shear flow is present. 
S. S. Cerri, F. Pegoraro, F. Califano, D. Del Sarto, F. Jenko
physics.plasm-ph physics.space-ph