Lev M. Zelenyi

Role of Electrostatic Effects in Thin Current Sheets

Thin current sheets (TCSs) are sites of energy storage and release in the Earth’s magnetosphere. A self-consistent analytical model of 1D TCS is presented in which the tension of the magnetic field lines is balanced by ion inertia rather than plasma pressure. The influence of the electron population and the corresponding electrostatic electric fields required to maintain quasineutrality are taken into account under the realistic assumption that electron motion is fast enough to support quasi-equilibrium Boltzmann distribution along field lines. Electrostatic effects can lead to specific features of local current density profiles inside TCS, for example, to their partial splitting. The dependence of electrostatic effects on the electron temperature, the form of electron distribution function, and the curvature of magnetic field lines are analyzed. Possible implications of these effects on the fine structure of current sheets and some dynamic phenomena in the Earth’s magnetotail are discussed.