Nonlinear Mirror Modes in Space Plasmas

Abstract: Since the first observations by Kaufmann et al.\ (1970), special attention has been paid to static pressure-balanced structures in the form of magnetic holes or humps observed in regions of the solar wind and of planetary magnetosheaths where the $\beta$ parameter is relatively large and the ion perpendicular temperature exceeds the parallel one. Although alternative interpretations have been proposed, these structures are usually viewed as associated with the mirror instability discovered in 1957 by Vedenov and Sagdeev. After reviewing observational results provided by satellite missions, high-resolution numerical simulations of the Vlasov--Maxwell equations together with asymptotic and phenomenological models of the nonlinear dynamics near the instability threshold are discussed. The constraining effect of the mirror instability on the temperature anisotropy associated with a dominant perpendicular ion heating observed in the solar wind is reported, and recent simulations of this phenomenon based on an elaborated fluid model including low-frequency kinetic effects are briefly mentioned.