Kinetic models of tangential discontinuities in the solar wind
Abstract
Kinetic-scale current sheets observed in the solar wind are frequently approximately force-free despite the fact that their plasma β is of the order of one. In-situ measurements have recently shown that plasma density and temperature often vary across the current sheets, while the plasma pressure is approximately uniform. In many cases these density and temperature variations are asymmetric with respect to the center of the current sheet. To model these observations theoretically we develop in this paper equilibria of kinetic-scale force-free current sheets that have plasma density and temperature gradients. The models can also be useful for analysis of stability and dissipation of the current sheets in the solar wind.
Citation
Neukirch , T , Vasko , I Y , Artemyev , A V & Allanson , O 2020 , ' Kinetic models of tangential discontinuities in the solar wind ' , Astrophysical Journal , vol. 891 , no. 1 , 86 . https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab7234
Publication
Astrophysical Journal
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0004-637XType
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2020. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab7234
Description
TN acknowledges financial support by the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) via Consolidated Grant ST/S000402/1. OA was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Highlight Topic Grant #NE/P017274/1 (Rad-Sat).Collections
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