Electron mirror instability: Particle-in-cell simulations

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electron mirror instability through linear and nonlinear simulations, revealing its potential to compete with and dominate over the whistler instability, leading to the formation of stable magnetic structures.

Contribution

It provides the first combined linear and nonlinear simulation analysis of the electron mirror instability and its competition with the whistler instability.

Findings

Electron mirror instability can become dominant nonlinear mode.

Mirror instability leads to non-propagating magnetic peaks.

Mirror and whistler instabilities can coexist and compete.

Abstract

Properties of the electron mirror instability and its competition with the usually dominant whistler (electron cyclotron) instability driven by the electron perpendicular temperature anisotropy are investigated on the linear level using a Vlasov linear solver and on the nonlinear level using a two-dimensional full particle code. The simulation results show that the linearly subdominant electron mirror instability may compete on the nonlinear level with the whistler instability and may even become eventually the dominant mode that generates robust non-propagating sub-ion-scale coherent structures in the form of magnetic peaks.