Equilibrium Configurations of Super‐Thin Current Sheets in Space Plasma: Characteristic Scaling of Multilayer Structures
Л. М. Зеленый, H. V. Malova, Makar V. Leonenko, Е. Е. Григоренко, V. Yu. Popov
Abstract
Abstract Thin current sheets (TCSs) are the key structures in space and laboratory plasmas responsible for the accumulation and subsequent release of the stored magnetic energy. Spacecraft measurements in the near Earth's space revealed the complicated multilayer TCSs structure consisting from extremely thin and strong electron current embedded inside the thicker ion current layer. In this paper we present for the first time the analytical self‐consistent model of 1D super thin electron current sheet (STCS) supported by magnetized electrons within a much wider (but still very thin) proton structure carried by nonmagnetized (quasi‐adiabatic) particles. We take into account the dependence of electron STCS on anisotropy of electron distribution and magnetic field shear often existing in realistic TCS configurations. It is shown that the structure of the embedded STCS can be described by the simple nonlinear equation, which allows to estimate the scaling of STCS thickness due to coupling of electron and ion domains, although electron dynamics described by guiding center drift approximation is scale free. The theoretical results are in a good agreement with MMS spacecraft observations in the Earth's magnetotail.