Influence of the Normal Magnetic Component to Magnetotail Current Sheet Forma

Cosmic Research. 2026. Vol. 64. No. 2. P. 238–252.

Domrin V. I., Malova H. V., V. Yu. Popov, Mingalev O. V., Kalegaev V. V., Grigorenko E. E., Zelenyi L. M.

During magnetospheric perturbations a relatively thin current sheet with thickness about several
proton gyroradii forms in the Earth’s magnetotail. In a framework of the kinetic model describing current
sheet thinning in the magnetotail, the processes of its formation are investigated depending on the normal
magnetic field magnitude which affects both the current sheet structure and particle dynamics within it. The
critical value of the ratio of the normal to tangential components magnitudes at current sheet edges is determined
above which the formation of a stationary thin current sheet does not occur. The reason for this is the
high density of trapped plasma particles around the sheet, which contribute to its magnetotail structure and
finally lead to its destruction. It is shown that this ratio can be the important factor influencing quasi-equilibrium
state of magnetotail current sheet as a whole and determining the characteristic parameter range at
which the formation of a long-lived current structure with small thickness is possible.

Keywords: magnetosphere, Magnetotail, current sheet, modeling, quasi-adiabatic particle dynamics

Publication based on the results of: Complex language and semantic models in artificial intelligence (2025)