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At least 19 records

Nonlinear analysis of generalized cross-field current instability

Analysis of the generalized cross-field current instability is carried out in which cross-field drift of both the ions and electrons and their temperatures are permitted to vary in time. The unstable mode under consideration is the electromagnetic generalization of the classical modified-two-stream instability. The generalized instability is made of the modified-two-stream and ion-Weibel modes. The relative importance of the features associated with the ion-Weibel mode and those of the modified-two-stream mode is assessed. Specific applications are made to the Earth's neutral sheet prior to substorm onset and to the Earth's bow shock. The numerical solution indicates that the ion-Weibel mode dominates in the Earth's neutral sheet environment. In contrast, the situation for the bow shock is dominated by the modified-two-stream mode. Notable differences are found between the present calculation and previous results on ion-Weibel mode which restrict the analysis to only parallel propagating waves. However, in the case of Earth's bow shock for which the ion-Weibel mode plays no important role, the inclusion of the electromagnetic ion response is found to differ little from the previous results which treats ions responding only to the electrostatic component of the excited waves.

Yoon, Peter H.↗

Local and global effects of the cross-field current instability

The cross-field current instability (CCI) was proposed elsewhere as a plausible mechanism for the initiation and intensification of substorm expansions. This instability encompasses the modified two stream, the ion-Weibel and the lower hybrid drift modes. The work carried out in relation to this instability and its local and global effects is reviewed. Predicted local effects include current reduction, particle acceleration, the excitation of oblique whistlers and lower hybrid drift waves, and the breakdown of the frozen-in-field condition through anomalous dissipation. The predicted global effects of CCI include the offset of force equilibrium and the generation of field aligned currents at the disruption site, which allow the efficient large scale transportation of mass, momentum and energy within the magnetosphere.

Lui, A. T. Y.↗

Effect of electron thermal anisotropy on the kinetic cross-field streaming instability

The investigation of the kinetic cross-field streaming instability, motivated by the research of collisionless shock waves and previously studied by Wu et al. (1983), is discussed more fully. Since in the ramp region of a quasi-perpendicular shock electrons can be preferentially heated in the direction transverse to the ambient magnetic field, it is both desirable and necessary to include the effect of the thermal anisotropy on the instability associated with a shock. It is found that Te-perpendicular greater than Te-parallel can significantly enhance the peak growth rate of the cross-field streaming instability when the electron beta is sufficiently high. Furthermore, the present analysis also improves the analytical and numerical solutions previously obtained.

Tsai, S. T.↗

Electromagnetic instabilities attributed to a cross-field ion drift

Instabilities due to a cross-field ion flow are reexamined by including the electromagnetic response of the ions, which has been ignored in existing discussions. It is found that this effect can lead to significant enhancement of the growth rate. Among the new results, a purely growing, electromagnetic unstable mode with a wave vector k parallel to the ambient magnetic field is found. The plasma configuration under consideration is similar to that used in the discussion of the well-known modified-two-stream instability. This instability has a growth rate faster than the ion cyclotron frequency, and is not susceptible to high-plasma-beta stabilization.

Chang, C. L.↗