Collisionless Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and vortex-induced reconnection in the external region of the Earth magnetotail

Abstract. In a magnetized plasma streaming with a non uniform velocity, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability plays a major role in mixing different plasma regions and in stretching the magnetic field lines leading to the formation of layers with a sheared magnetic field where magnetic field line reconnection can take place. A relevant example is provided by the formation of a mixing layer between the Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind at low latitudes during northward periods. In the considered configuration, in the presence of a magnetic field nearly perpendicular to the plane defined by the velocity field and its inhomogeneity direction, velocity shear drives a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability which advects and distorts the magnetic field configuration. If the Alfvén velocity associated to the in-plane magnetic field is sufficiently weak with respect to the variation of the fluid velocity in the plasma, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability generates fully rolled-up vortices which advect...