Berlin 2014 – scientific programme

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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 6: Theory and Modelling

P 6.9: Talk

Monday, March 17, 2014, 18:30–18:45, SPA HS202

3-D electron shear flow instabilities of an electron current sheet and generation of flux ropes in collisionless magnetic reconnection — •Neeraj Jain and Joerg Buechner — Max-Planck/Princeton Center for Plasma Physics, Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Max-Planck-Str. 2, 37191, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

In collisionless magnetic reconnection, electron current sheets (ECS) with thickness of the order of electron inertial length forms embedded inside an ion current sheet with thickness of the order of ion inertial length. These ECS's are susceptible to a variety of instabilities which have potential to affect the reconnection rate and/or the structures. We study three dimensional electron shear flow driven instabilities of an electron current sheet using an electron-magnetohydrodynamic model. Linear growth rate of the fastest mode drops with the thickness of ECS. The nature of the instability also changes with the thickness of ECS. When the half thickness is close to one electron inertial length, the fastest instability is two dimensional (no variations along flow direction) tearing mode and flux ropes are expected to form during the nonlinear evolution of the instability. For half thickness sufficiently larger or smaller than one electron inertial length, the fastest mode has finite variations along the direction of flow and is not tearing mode. Three dimensional nonlinear electron-magnetohydrodynamic simulations show the formation of flux ropes for the half thickness close to one electron inertial length.