Is the Near-Earth Current Sheet Prior to Reconnection Unstable to Tearing Mode?
WEI Xin-Hua1, CAO Jin-Bin1,2, ZHOU Guo-Cheng1, FU Hui-Shan1,2,3
1Key Laboratory of Space Weather, Center for Space Science and Applied Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 1001902School of Aeronautics, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 1000493Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
Is the Near-Earth Current Sheet Prior to Reconnection Unstable to Tearing Mode?
WEI Xin-Hua1, CAO Jin-Bin1,2, ZHOU Guo-Cheng1, FU Hui-Shan1,2,3
1Key Laboratory of Space Weather, Center for Space Science and Applied Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 1001902School of Aeronautics, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 1000493Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
摘要The tearing mode instability plays a key role in the triggering process of reconnection. The triggering collisionless tearing mode instability has been theoretically and numerically analyzed by many researchers. However, due to the difficulty in obtaining the observational wave number, it is still unknown whether the tearing mode instability can be excited in an actual plasma sheet prior to reconnection onset. Using the data from four Cluster satellites prior to a magnetospheric reconnection event on 13 September 2002, we utilized the wave telescope technique to obtain the wave number which corresponds to the peak of power spectral density. The wavelength is about 18RE and is consistent with previous theoretic and numerical results. After substituting the wave vector and other necessary parameters of the observed current sheet into the triggering condition of tearing mode instability, we find that the near-Earth current sheet prior to reconnection is unstable to tearing mode.
Abstract：The tearing mode instability plays a key role in the triggering process of reconnection. The triggering collisionless tearing mode instability has been theoretically and numerically analyzed by many researchers. However, due to the difficulty in obtaining the observational wave number, it is still unknown whether the tearing mode instability can be excited in an actual plasma sheet prior to reconnection onset. Using the data from four Cluster satellites prior to a magnetospheric reconnection event on 13 September 2002, we utilized the wave telescope technique to obtain the wave number which corresponds to the peak of power spectral density. The wavelength is about 18RE and is consistent with previous theoretic and numerical results. After substituting the wave vector and other necessary parameters of the observed current sheet into the triggering condition of tearing mode instability, we find that the near-Earth current sheet prior to reconnection is unstable to tearing mode.
WEI Xin-Hua;CAO Jin-Bin;ZHOU Guo-Cheng;FU Hui-Shan;. Is the Near-Earth Current Sheet Prior to Reconnection Unstable to Tearing Mode?[J]. 中国物理快报, 2010, 27(2): 29401-029401.
WEI Xin-Hua, CAO Jin-Bin, ZHOU Guo-Cheng, FU Hui-Shan,. Is the Near-Earth Current Sheet Prior to Reconnection Unstable to Tearing Mode?. Chin. Phys. Lett., 2010, 27(2): 29401-029401.
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2010, Vol. 27 
