Three-dimensional stability of current sheets supported by electron pressure anisotropy

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dc.contributor.authorLe, A.
dc.contributor.authorStanier, A.
dc.contributor.authorDaughton, W.
dc.contributor.authorNg, Jonathan
dc.contributor.authorEgedal, J.
dc.contributor.authorNystrom, W. D.
dc.contributor.authorBird, R.
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-27T18:23:48Z
dc.date.available2021-07-27T18:23:48Z
dc.date.issued2019-10-17
dc.description.abstractThe stability of electron current sheets embedded within the reconnection exhaust is studied with a 3D fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulation. The electron current layers studied here form self-consistently in a reconnection regime with a moderate guide field, are supported by electron pressure anisotropy with the pressure component parallel to the magnetic field direction larger than the perpendicular components, and extend well beyond electron kinetic scales. In 3D, in addition to drift instabilities common to nearly all reconnection exhausts, the regime considered also exhibits an electromagnetic instability driven by the electron pressure anisotropy. While the fluctuations modulate the current density on small scales, they do not break apart the general structure of the extended electron current layers. The elongated current sheets should therefore persist long enough to be observed both in space observations and in laboratory experiments.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipWork at LANL was supported by the Basic Plasma Science Program from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy Science. A.L. received additional support from NASA Grant No. NNH17AE36I. The 3D fully kinetic simulation was performed on Cori (NERSC). Additional simulations were performed on Pleiades provided by NASA’s HEC Program and with LANL Institutional Computing resources.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5125014en_US
dc.format.extent10 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2eayl-jk23
dc.identifier.citationLe, A. et al.; Three-dimensional stability of current sheets supported by electron pressure anisotropy; Physics of Plasmas 26, 102114, 17 October, 2019; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5125014en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1063/1.5125014
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/22170
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherAIP Publishingen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Goddard Planetary Heliophysics Institute (GPHI)
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsPublic Domain Mark 1.0*
dc.rightsThis work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/*
dc.titleThree-dimensional stability of current sheets supported by electron pressure anisotropyen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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