Theory of field-swelling instability in anisotropic plasmas
- 1 May 1984
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Physics of Fluids
- Vol. 27 (5) , 1187-1193
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.864725
Abstract
High‐β ( β>1), collisionless plasmas with slightly anisotropic temperatures (T⊥≳T∥) are shown to be subject to an instability producing transport of transverse electron thermal energy into the regions where the magnetic field is weakened by the perturbation while the plasma motion is decoupled from that of the field lines. Modes of this type can be important in producing magnetic reconnection when the effects of an effective electron viscosity or resistivity are added in. A fluid‐like description for the linear and quasilinear theory of this (‘‘field‐swelling’’) instability is adopted.Keywords
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