Plasma sheet structure in the magnetotail: kinetic simulation and comparison with satellite observations

Abstract

We use the results of a three-dimensional kinetic simulation of an Harris current sheet to propose an explanation and to reproduce the ISEE-1/2, Geotail, and Cluster observations of the magnetotail current sheet structure. Current sheet flapping, current density bifurcation, and reconnection are explained as the results of the kink and tearing instabilities, which dominate the current sheet evolution.

Submitted to Geophys. Res. Lett. (2003)

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• The role of oxygen ions in the formation of a bifurcated current sheet in the magnetotail