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Structuring of the Ampte magnetotail barium releases
Author(s) -
Hassam A. B.,
Huba J. D.
Publication year - 1987
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/gl014i001p00060
Subject(s) - physics , gyroradius , magnetosphere , radius , computational physics , instability , atomic physics , magnetic field , mechanics , computer security , quantum mechanics , computer science
A new instability is proposed to explain the observed large‐scale structuring of the magnetotail AMPTE barium releases. The stability theory is based on a modified set of MHD equations which allows for large Larmor radius effects, i.e., ρ i ∼ R c which is typical of the AMPTE releases (here ρ i is the ion Larmor radius and R c is the transverse radius of the cloud). The mode is driven by the deceleration of the cloud and the density gradient at the edge of the cloud. The predicted linear growth rate and eigenmode structure are consistent with AMPTE observations.