Physics
Scientific paper
May 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm..sm31a03b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #SM31A-03
Physics
7835 Magnetic Reconnection
Scientific paper
Low β plasmas are governed by the force-free equilibrium ∇ x B=α B}. At the interface between two adjacent low β twisted flux tubes, \hat {B} rotates abruptly by some angle Δ . Ampere's law shows that this rotational discontinuity has an associated field-aligned current sheet with current density \ J{∥ }≈ Δ B/μ 0a where a is the current sheet thickness. Rotational discontinuities in force-free equilibria are kinetically unstable with respect to Alfven wave emission. The essential criterion for instability is that a ~Δ c/ω pi because at this current sheet thickness J∥ /nq ~ vA. The electrons comprising the field-aligned current effectively constitute a beam\ with velocity ~ vA which can resonantly destabilize Alfven waves via inverse Landau damping. The analysis has been extended to compare this Alfven instability to the competing and better known phenomenon of current-driven ion acoustic wave instability. It is found that for Te ~ Ti the Alfven instability has a much lower threshold than the ion acoustic instability and so should dominate.
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