Open AccessOn the drift‐sausage mode in one‐dimensional current sheet
Author(s) -
Yoon Peter H.,
Lui A. T. Y.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000ja000130
Subject(s) - neutrality , current (fluid) , physics , mode (computer interface) , mechanics , stability (learning theory) , current sheet , charge (physics) , classical mechanics , statistical physics , plasma , quantum mechanics , computer science , thermodynamics , law , magnetohydrodynamics , machine learning , political science , operating system
This article presents a two‐fluid stability analysis of Harris current sheet equilibrium under the assumption of charge quasi‐neutrality. It is found that the charge neutrality condition leads to sausage‐type fluctuations, which propagate along the direction of the cross‐field current flow, hence the drift‐sausage mode. It is also shown that solutions which correspond to kink‐type perturbations do not exist under the present assumption of charge neutrality. In view of the fact that a substantial body of simulation works exist which report predominantly kink‐like perturbations, and that analytical theories which do not assume charge quasi‐neutrality predict that the kink‐type mode is a dominant unstable mode, it is concluded that the assumption of quasi‐neutrality may be a poor choice in describing the stability of Harris current sheet equilibrium.