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Reduced magneto-hydrodynamic theory of coherent magnetic chains in the solar wind

Part of: Focus on Space Plasmas Professor Francesco Pegoraro

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2018

Dušan Jovanović ,
Olga Alexandrova ,
Milan Maksimović  and
Milivoj Belić
Dušan Jovanović*
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade, Pregrevica 118, 11080 Belgrade (Zemun), Serbia State University of Novi Pazar, Vuka Karadžića bb, 36300 Novi Pazar, Serbia
Olga Alexandrova
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Paris–Meudon, Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 5 place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
Milan Maksimović
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Paris–Meudon, Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 5 place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
Milivoj Belić
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University at Qatar, P.O. Box 23874 Doha, Qatar
*
†Email address for correspondence: dusan.jovanovic@ipb.ac.rs
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Abstract

An analytic theory is presented of magnetic structures in collisionless, high-$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$ plasmas. Using a reduced magnetohydrodynamic model, a stationary nonlinear solution is constructed in the form of a Kelvin–Stuart cat’s eyes chain of magnetic islands, on the spatial scale that exceeds the characteristic ion lengths. The solution is imbedded in a background current sheet and possesses both a significant plasma density perturbation trapped inside the magnetic islands and a compressional magnetic field component that is driven mostly by a current loop located at the separatrix of the islands. This theory may provide an explanation for the magnetic structures observed in the solar wind close to the Earth by the Cluster spacecraft.

Keywords

astrophysical plasmasplasma nonlinear phenomenaspace plasma physics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 84 , Issue 4 , August 2018 , 725840402
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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