An Analytical Model for the Current Structure of the Magnetosheath Boundary in a Collisionless Plasma

Abstract

We have constructed an analytical model of a quasi-stationary current sheet in a collisionless plasma that describes the boundary of the magnetosheath formed by the solar (stellar) wind. The model significantly extends the scope of the magnetohydrodynamic approach and provides a kinetic match between the nonuniform anisotropic distribution functions of electrons and ions at various effective temperatures. According to our estimates, it allows the current structure of the bow shock and the magnetopause to be qualitatively described for a wide class of objects, including the planetary magnetospheres modified by the incoming stellar wind, the boundary layers of the magnetic clouds filled with a plasma and moving away from the star through the surrounding wind plasma, and the high coronal magnetic loops blown around by the wind on late-type stars.