Physics
Scientific paper
Nov 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992jgr....9716749b&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 97, no. A11, p. 16,749-16,756.
Physics
17
Current Sheets, Geomagnetic Tail, Ion Distribution, Magnetohydrodynamic Stability, Tearing Modes (Plasmas), Geomagnetism, Neutral Sheets, Plasma Currents
Scientific paper
The ion tearing instability is investigated in a magnetotail configuration that consists of a diffuse plasma sheet current and an embedded, thin current sheet with a strong current. For historical reasons, the thin embedded current sheet will be called a 'neutral sheet', even though the normal component of the magnetic field, Bn, is nonzero. In particular, we assume that the current within the thin current sheet is due to the acceleration of 'Speiserlike' ion trajectories by a cross-tail electric field Ey. It is found that the strong current within the neutral sheet is essentially unimportant to the growth rate of the tearing instability, and that the growth rate scales as (lambda(0)/Lz) squared, where Lz is the overall half thickness of the plasma sheet and lambda (0) is the ion inertial length. In the absence of the current outside the neutral sheet, current filamentation is stable.
Burkhart Grant R.
Drake James F.
Dusenbery Paul B.
Speiser Theodore W.
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