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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Electron heat flux and whistler instability in the Earth's magnetosheath
Ida Svenningsson1,2,3, Emiliya Yordanova1, Yuri V Khotyaintsev1,2
1Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala 751 21, Sweden.
Abstract:
Despite heat flux's role in regulating energy conversion in collisionless plasmas, its properties and evolution in the magnetosheath downstream of the Earth's bow shock are scarcely explored. We use Magnetospheric Multiscale in situ measurements to quantify and characterize the electron heat flux in the magnetosheath. We find that the heat flux is shaped by the magnetosheath magnetic field as it drapes around the magnetosphere. While it is affected by solar wind upstream conditions and increases with magnetic field strength, it is not substantially changed by local magnetosheath processes. Also, the heat flux is limited by whistler instability thresholds.
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