The three-dimensional evolution of ion-scale current sheets: tearing and drift-kink instabilities in the presence of proton temperature anisotropy
The three-dimensional evolution of ion-scale current sheets: tearing and drift-kink instabilities in the presence of proton temperature anisotropy
We present the first three-dimensional (3D) hybrid simulations of the evolution of ion-scale current sheets, with an investigation of the role of temperature anisotropy and associated kinetic instabilities on the growth of the tearing instability and particle heating. We confirm the ability of the ion cyclotron and firehose instabilities to enhance or suppress reconnection, respectively. The simulations demonstrate the emergence of persistent 3D structures, including patchy reconnection sites and the fast growth of a narrow-band drift-kink instability, which suppresses reconnection for thin current sheets with weak guide fields. Potential observational signatures of the 3D evolution of solar wind current sheets are also discussed. We conclude that kinetic instabilities, arising from non-Maxwellian ion populations, are significant to the evolution of 3D current sheets, and two-dimensional studies of heating rates by reconnection may therefore over-estimate the ability of thin, ion-scale current sheets to heat the solar wind by reconnection.
4
Gingell, P.W.
ba7b8113-3833-40d8-a879-aab3f987455d
Burgess, D.
ead7a3f3-407a-48a8-ab62-735d14346d63
Matteini, L.
3beb3049-564d-436e-bb75-a9caf72e0568
13 March 2015
Gingell, P.W.
ba7b8113-3833-40d8-a879-aab3f987455d
Burgess, D.
ead7a3f3-407a-48a8-ab62-735d14346d63
Matteini, L.
3beb3049-564d-436e-bb75-a9caf72e0568
Gingell, P.W., Burgess, D. and Matteini, L.
(2015)
The three-dimensional evolution of ion-scale current sheets: tearing and drift-kink instabilities in the presence of proton temperature anisotropy.
The Astrophysical Journal, 802 (1), .
(doi:10.1088/0004-637X/802/1/4).
Abstract
We present the first three-dimensional (3D) hybrid simulations of the evolution of ion-scale current sheets, with an investigation of the role of temperature anisotropy and associated kinetic instabilities on the growth of the tearing instability and particle heating. We confirm the ability of the ion cyclotron and firehose instabilities to enhance or suppress reconnection, respectively. The simulations demonstrate the emergence of persistent 3D structures, including patchy reconnection sites and the fast growth of a narrow-band drift-kink instability, which suppresses reconnection for thin current sheets with weak guide fields. Potential observational signatures of the 3D evolution of solar wind current sheets are also discussed. We conclude that kinetic instabilities, arising from non-Maxwellian ion populations, are significant to the evolution of 3D current sheets, and two-dimensional studies of heating rates by reconnection may therefore over-estimate the ability of thin, ion-scale current sheets to heat the solar wind by reconnection.
Text
The three-dimensional evolution of ion-scale current sheets: tearing and drift-kink instabilities in the presence of proton temperature anisotropy
- Accepted Manuscript
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Published date: 13 March 2015
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 438534
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/438534
ISSN: 0004-637X
PURE UUID: 01377370-b2c7-4166-8778-5bde8a50063a
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Date deposited: 13 Mar 2020 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:59
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Author:
D. Burgess
Author:
L. Matteini
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