Essential Guide to the EU – Chapter 9
Plasma Circuit Instabilities

9.1  Exploding Double Layers The inductive energy of a circuit is a function of the current and the inductance. If any inductive circuit is disrupted, for example, by opening a switch, then the inductive energy of the circuit will be released at the point of disruption. This is well-known enough…

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Essential Guide to the EU – Chapter 8
Current Sheets, Perpendicular Currents and Electric Circuits

8.1  Plasma Current Sheets Reference has already been made to the filamentation of current sheets. This section will explore the nature of current sheets and their relationship to the magnetic field. A current sheet is exactly what it says – a thin surface within which a current flows. It obviously…

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Essential Guide to the EU – Chapter 7
Birkeland Currents, Magnetic Ropes and Current-Carrying Double Layers

7.1 Birkeland Currents There is another cause of filamentation of currents in plasma. This is due to the fact that there is a force of attraction between any two parallel currents. By “parallel currents” we mean that the direction of flow or motion of like charges (say, the electrons, or…

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