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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Nonlinear evolution of the lower-hybrid drift instability in a current sheet
William Daughton1, Giovanni Lapenta, Paolo Ricci
1Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Abstract:
The lower-hybrid drift instability is simulated in an ion-scale current sheet using a fully kinetic approach with values of the ion to electron mass ratio up to m(i)/m(e)=1836. Although the instability is localized on the edge of the layer, the nonlinear development increases the electron flow velocity in the central region resulting in a strong bifurcation of the current density and significant anisotropic heating of the electrons. This dramatically enhances the collisionless tearing mode and may lead to the rapid onset of magnetic reconnection for current sheets near the critical scale.
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