Collisionless tearing instability in magnetotail plasmas

Journal Article · Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

OSTI ID:5452363

Wang, Xiaogang; Bhattacharjee, A ^[1]; Lui, A T.Y. ^[2]

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1. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (USA)
2. Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (USA)

The problem of the linear stability of collisionless tearing modes in the Earth's magnetotail is revisited. It is found that the collisionless tearing mode is linearly unstable with wavelengths of the order of 10 R{sub E}. It is shown that an important feature neglected in earlier theories is a nonzero equilibrium B{sub y}-field. The physics of the instability is elucidated in the context of a simple slab model with B{sub x} {ne} 0, B{sub y} {ne} 0, B{sub z} = 0, and a sheared parabolic model which is representative of the magnetotail in which all three components of the magnetic field are nonzero. The dispersion equation for the instability is obtained by a boundary-layer analysis. The implications of the theory for recent observations on current disruption and diversion during substorms is discussed.

• OSTI ID: 5452363
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 95:A9; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
MAGNETOTAIL
TEARING INSTABILITY
BOUNDARY LAYERS
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ENERGY LOSSES
EQUILIBRIUM
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC BAYS
MAGNETIC FLUX
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
STABILITY
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
INSTABILITY
LAYERS
LOSSES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena