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Tearing instability of a force-free magnetic configuration in a collisionless plasma

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Abstract

The equilibrium and stability of a sheared force-free magnetic field in a collisionless plasma are investigated, and the main features of charged particle motion in such a field are analyzed. A steady solution is derived to the Vlasov-Maxwell equations for the charged particle distribution function that describes different equilibrium configurations. The tearing instability of the magnetic field configurations is studied both analytically and by particle-in-cell simulations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Bol’shaya Cheremushkinskaya ul. 25, Moscow, 117259, Russia

    N. A. Bobrova

  2. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Vavilova 38, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    S. V. Bulanov

  3. Manchester University, PO Box 88, Manchester, M60 IQD, UK

    G. E. Vekstein

  4. Laboratory of Plasma Astrophysics, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama University, Gofuku 3190, Toyama, 930-8555, Japan

    J. -I. Sakai, K. Machida & T. Haruki

Authors
  1. N. A. Bobrova
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  2. S. V. Bulanov
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  3. G. E. Vekstein
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  4. J. -I. Sakai
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  5. K. Machida
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  6. T. Haruki
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__________

Translated from Fizika Plazmy, Vol. 29, No. 6, 2003, pp. 483–493.

Original Russian Text Copyright © 2003 by Bobrova, Bulanov, Vekstein, Sakai, Machida, Haruki.

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Bobrova, N.A., Bulanov, S.V., Vekstein, G.E. et al. Tearing instability of a force-free magnetic configuration in a collisionless plasma. Plasma Phys. Rep. 29, 449–458 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1582511

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1582511

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