Two-fluid ballooning instability induced plasmoid formation in
near-Earth magnetotail
Abstract
Previous single-MHD simulations demonstrate that ballooning instability
can develop in thin-current sheet configurations of near-Earth
magnetotail, which would in turn induce plasmoid formation and
three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in absence of inward solar wind
flow from magnetopause [1,2]. Our recent two-fluid MHD simulations
find that such a mechanism for plasmoid formation in magnetotail remains
viable in regimes and scales where Hall and finite-Larmor-radius (FLR)
effects become no longer negligible. Both linear and nonlinear
calculations are carried out to evaluate the two-fluid effects on the
ballooning instability and its consequence, based on a generalized
Harris sheet configuration of the magnetotail. Whereas FLR effects
reduce and stabilize linear growth of ballooning instability at ion
gyroradius scale, Hall effects can significantly increase the number of
plasmoids formed along the Earth and tail-ward direction after the
nonlinear growth of ballooning instability. The emergence and presence
of multiple plasmoids induced by nonlinear ballooning instability
suggests a potential origin of the series of neighbouring magnetic
islands in magnetotail observed during a substorm expansion phase
[3]. References [1] P. Zhu and J. Raeder, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110,
235005 (2013). [2] P. Zhu and J. Raeder, J. Geophys. Res. Space
Physics 119, 131-141 (2014). [3] L.-J. Chen et al, Phys. Plasmas 16,
056501 (2009).