Kinetic instabilities of thin current sheets:: Results of two-and-one-half-dimensional Vlasov code simulations

Nonlinear triggering of the instability of thin current sheets is investigated by two-and-one-half- dimensional Vlasov code simulations. A global drift-resonant instability (DRI) is found, which results from the lower-hybrid-drift waves penetrating from the current sheet edges to the center where they resonantly interact with unmagnetized ions. This resonant nonlinear instability grows faster than a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability obtained in previous studies. The DRI is either asymmetric or symmetric mode or a combination of the two, depending on the relative phase of the lower-hybrid-drift waves at the edges of the current sheet. With increasing particle mass ratio the wavenumber of the fastest-growing mode increases as kL(z)similar to(m(i)/m(e))(1/2)/2 and the growth rate of the DRI saturates at a finite level. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.