Ion-Mediated Tearing and Kink Instabilities in the Earth's Magnetosphere: Hybrid-Vlasov Simulations

I. Zaitsev*, G. Cozzani, M. Alho, K. Horaites, H. Zhou, A. Kit, Y. Pfau-Kempf, S. Hoilijoki, U. Ganse, M. Battarbee, K. Papadakis, J. Suni, M. Dubart, F. Tesema-Kebede, A. Workayehu, V. Tarvus, L. Kotipalo, V. Koikkalainen, L. Turc, M. Palmroth

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We explore the three-dimensional structure of ion-kinetic instabilities in a thin current layer using a hybrid-Vlasov simulation of the Earth's magnetosphere. The simulation shows the simultaneous growth of tearing and kinking instabilities, which develop in the Sun-Earth and dawn-dusk directions, respectively, within the magnetotail current sheet. The formation of flux ropes indicates the development of the tearing instability, while flapping-type cross-tail oscillations arise from the kink instability. We consider both instabilities as independent polarizations, albeit sharing a common source: demagnetized ions forming crescent-shape distributions at the center of the current layer. These oscillations exhibit spatiotemporal characteristics within the proton-scale range, featuring a growth time on the order of 40–80 proton gyroperiods and a wavelength of approximately 15–30 proton skin depths.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2024JA032615
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume130
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2025
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

I. Zaitsev expresses gratitude to Dr. Andrey Divin and prof. Vladimir Semenov for the valuable discussions conducted throughout the PhD research and Dr. Maxime Grandin for the help with the improvement of the manuscript. Vlasiator is developed with funding from the European Research Council Starting Grant 200141-QuESpace and Consolidator Grant 682068—PRESTISSIMO. We also appreciate the support provided by the CSC-IT Center for Science in Finland and the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe Tier-0 supercomputer infrastructure in HLRS Stuttgart (project number PRACE-2019204998). M.Palmroth acknowledges the following Academy of Finland Grants 352846, 345701, 347795. Y. Pfau-Kempf thanks the Academy of Finland (KIMCHI project, Grant 339756). L.Turc acknowledges the University of Helsinki 3-year research Grant 2020–2022 and the Academy of Finland Grants 322544, 328893, and 353197. S. Hoilijoki acknowledges Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space, Project 336807. The work of Adam Kit was partially supported by the Academy of Finland Grant 355460.

Keywords

  • hybrid-Vlasov simulation
  • instabilities
  • magnetosphere

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