A KINETIC-MODEL OF THE PLASMA SHEET - ISOTROPIC NONUNIFORM PLASMA TEMPERATURE

A steady state kinetic model of the plasma sheet is formulated without the electric field. The electron and ion distribution functions in the model are two-component Maxwellians. The bi-Maxwellian distribution function is needed to allow the temperature to be nonuniform. The present model of the plasma sheet is constructed based on the exact constants of the particle motion. Therefore the ion and electron dynamics, including the nonadiabatic particle behavior in the plasma sheet, are fully self-consistent with the magnetic field of the model. The magnetic field configuration and the ion temperature predicted by the model are in good agreement with observations in the plasma sheet under quiet conditions. The number density and the current density in the model are monotonically increasing toward Earth, which makes the present model inapplicable to the inner edge of the plasma sheet.