Force-free collisionless current sheet models with non-uniform temperature and density profiles
arXiv:1708.01105 · doi:10.1063/1.4997703
Abstract
We present a class of one-dimensional, strictly neutral, Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium distribution functions for force-free current sheets, with magnetic fields defined in terms of Jacobian elliptic functions, extending the results of Abraham-Shrauner (Phys. Plasmas 20, 102117, 2013) to allow for non-uniform density and temperature profiles. To achieve this, we use an approach previously applied to the force-free Harris sheet by Kolotkov et al. (Phys. Plasmas 22, 112902, 2015). In one limit of the parameters, we recover the model of Kolotkov et al., while another limit gives a linear force-free field. We discuss conditions on the parameters such that the distribution functions are always positive, and give expressions for the pressure, density, temperature and bulk-flow velocities of the equilibrium, discussing differences from previous models. We also present some illustrative plots of the distribution function in velocity space.
29 pages, 7 figures
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Cited by in corpus (3)
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- A family of Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium distribution functions describing a transition from the Harris sheet to the force-free Harris sheet
- Collisionless distribution functions for force-free current sheets: using a pressure transformation to lower the plasma beta