Kinetic theory of electrostatic 'bounce' modes in two-dimensional current sheets

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3491423· OSTI ID:21421278

Tur, A; Louarn, P ^[1]; Yanovsky, V ^[2]

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1. Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS/Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31028 (France)
2. Institute for Single Crystals, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkov 61001 (Ukraine)

The role of trapped particles in the destabilization of two-dimensional (2D) current sheets is investigated for applications to theories of magnetospheric substorms. Considering a 2D 'Lembege and Pellat' equilibrium, the linearized gyrokinetic Vlasov-Maxwell equations are solved for electrostatic perturbations with periods close to the typical electron bounce period ({tau}{sub be}). The particle bounce motion is approximated to its first Fourier component ({omega}{sub b}=2{pi}/{tau}{sub b}) which allows the explicit time integration of Vlasov equation and the calculation of the nonlocal particle response. The dispersion equation of the electrostatic bounce modes is derived from the quasineutrality condition. It is shown that the bounce modes exist in a narrow domain of electron-to-ion temperature ratio (T{sub e}/T{sub i} varying from 0.2 to 1.4), with large growth rates ({delta}{approx}0.2{omega}), leading to current sheet destabilization over time scales of 1-2 min.

• OSTI ID: 21421278
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3491423; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
BOLTZMANN-VLASOV EQUATION
CURRENTS
DISPERSION RELATIONS
DISTURBANCES
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
ION TEMPERATURE
MAXWELL EQUATIONS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUATIONS
FERMIONS
INSTABILITY
LEPTONS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS