Regimes of ion dynamics in current sheets: The machine learning approach

Lukin, A. S.; Artemyev, А. V.; Vainchtein, Dmitri; Petrukovich, A. A.

doi:10.1103/physreve.106.065205

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Figures 2(c), (d) show examples of force-free current sheets observed in the Martian and Jovian magnetotails. There are not enough known integrals of motion to describe distribution functions of charged particles in such currentsheet configurations (see discussion in Lukin et al 2022). Consequently, the absence of kinetic models of force-free current sheets with B n ≠ 0 significantly hinders the analysis of their stability, the process responsible for the magnetic reconnection onset and particle acceleration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetic Equilibrium of Two-dimensional Force-free Current Sheets

Artemyev

Angelopoulos

et al. 2023

ApJ

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Force-free current sheets are local plasma structures with field-aligned electric currents and approximately uniform plasma pressures. Such structures, widely found throughout the heliosphere, are sites for plasma instabilities and magnetic reconnection, the growth rate of which is controlled by the structure’s current-sheet configuration. Despite the fact that many kinetic equilibrium models have been developed for one-dimensional force-free current sheets, their two-dimensional (2D) counterparts, which have a magnetic field component normal to the current sheets, have not received sufficient attention to date. Here, using particle-in-cell simulations, we search for such 2D force-free current sheets through relaxation from an initial, magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium. Kinetic equilibria are established toward the end of our simulations, thus demonstrating the existence of kinetic force-free current sheets. Although the system currents in the late equilibrium state remain field aligned as in the initial configuration, the velocity distribution functions of both ions and electrons systematically evolve from their initial drifting Maxwellians to their final time-stationary Vlasov state. The existence of 2D force-free current sheets at kinetic equilibrium necessitates future work in discovering additional integrals of motion of the system, constructing the kinetic distribution functions, and eventually investigating their stability properties.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%