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Mirror instability: From quasi‐linear diffusion to coherent structures
Author(s) -
Hellinger P.,
Kuznetsov E. A.,
Passot T.,
Sulem P. L.,
Trávníček P. M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2008gl036805
Subject(s) - instability , physics , flattening , distribution function , nonlinear system , diffusion , classical mechanics , space (punctuation) , statistical physics , computational physics , mechanics , quantum mechanics , astronomy , linguistics , philosophy
A model for the nonlinear dynamics of mirror modes near the instability threshold is presented. By matching the quasi‐linear theory for the space‐averaged distribution function with a reductive perturbative description of the mirror modes, the model reproduces the early‐time flattening of the distribution function and the development of magnetic humps from an initial noise, in agreement with Vlasov‐Maxwell numerical simulations. It suggests a possible mechanism at the origin of the mirror structures observed in planetary magnetosheaths and in the solar wind.