Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm23b2050b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM23B-2050
Physics
[2723] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Reconnection, [2744] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetotail, [2753] Magnetospheric Physics / Numerical Modeling, [2772] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Waves And Instabilities
Scientific paper
Recently, Sitnov and Schindler (2010) [1] have revisited the problem of the ion tearing instability of a current sheet with a normal magnetic field, and speculated on its possible connection with dipolarization fronts in the magnetotail current sheet. We have performed 2-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to revisit the stability of a current sheet which has a width of the order of the ion skin depth, including a spatially varying normal magnetic field Bz. Using a particle-in-cell simulation code with open boundary conditions, we have conducted simulations where the magnetic field and the density have profiles of Bx=-[B0/g(x)]tanh[z/w/g(x)] and n=[n0/g(x)2]sech2[z/w/g(x)]+nb, respectively, where w is a width of the current sheet, and a function g(x) determines the profile of Bz along the z=0 as Bz=wB0g'(x)/g(x). We have performed two types of simulations: the first one uses g(x)=exp(ɛ1x/w), in which Bz in the z=0 plane becomes uniform in the x direction. The second type of configuration uses g(x)=exp(ɛ1h(x/w)) and h(x/w)=x/w+(α/ɛ2){1+tanh[ɛ2(x-x0)/w]}, in which Bz in the z=0 plane has a hump at x=x0. The second type of magnetic field has been studied by Sitnov and Schindler (2010). We have performed several runs by changing the mass ratio and the magnitude of the normal magnetic field Bz. In both cases, we have observed that the current sheet is unstable only when Bz is very small and the condition kρe>1 is satisfied, where ρe is the gyro radius of electron with respect to Bz. When Bz becomes large and kρe<1 is satisfied, the current sheet becomes stable. The claim that the instability, when it is excited, is some form of ion tearing is critically reviewed. [1] M. I. Sitnov and K. Schindler, GRL, 37, L08102 (2010)
Bessho Naoki
Bhattacharjee Anirban
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