Space weather hazards in the inner magnetosphere
Abstract Not Provided
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the magnetopause, magnetohydrodynamic waveguide in the outer magnetosphere, and Alfven resonance deep in the magnetosphere
Oscillations of the 'magnetosphere-solar wind' system are studied analytically in the framework of a plane-stratified model of the medium. The properties of oscillations are determined by three phenomena: Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the tangential discontinuity (magnetopause) separating the magnetosphere and the solar wind, the presence of a waveguide for fast magnetosonic waves in the magnetosphere, and the Alfven resonance-a sharp increase in the amplitude of oscillations having the properties of Alfven waves-in the inner magnetosphere. The oscillations of the system form a discrete spectrum of eigenmodes. Analytical expressions are obtained for the frequency and growth rate of instability of each mode, as well as for the functions describing the spatial structure of these modes. All these characteristics of the eigenmodes are shown to depend on the velocity of the solar wind as a parameter. The dependences of the main mode characteristics (such as the instability thresholds, the points of the maximum and minimum growth rate, and the spatial distributions of the oscillation energy) on this parameter are determined for each eigenmode.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Magnetic reconnection in the presence of externally driven and self-generated turbulence
Magnetic reconnection is an important process that violates flux freezing and induces change of magnetic field topology in conducting fluids and, as a consequence, converts magnetic field energy into particle energy. It is thought to be operative in laboratory, heliophysical, and astrophysical plasmas. These environments exhibit wide variations in collisionality, ranging from collisionless in the Earth's magnetosphere to highly collisional in molecular clouds. A common feature among these plasmas is, however, the presence of turbulence. We review the present understanding of the effects of turbulence on the reconnection rate, discussing both how strong pre-existing turbulence modifies Sweet-Parker reconnection and how turbulence may develop as a result of reconnection itself. In steady state, reconnection rate is proportional to the aspect ratio of the diffusion region. Thus, two general MHD classes of models for fast reconnection have been proposed, differing on whether they keep the aspect ratio finite by increasing the width due to turbulent broadening or shortening the length of the diffusion layer due to plasmoid instability. One of the consequences of the plasmoid instability model is the possibility that the current sheet thins down to collisionless scales where kinetic effects become dominant. As a result, kinetic effects may be of importance for many astrophysical applications which were considered to be in the realm of MHD. Whether pre-existing turbulence can significantly modify the transition to the kinetic regime is not currently known. Although most studies of turbulent reconnection have been based on MHD, recent advances in kinetic simulations are enabling 3D studies of turbulence and reconnection in the collisionless regime. A summary of these recent works, highlighting similarities and differences with the MHD models of turbulent reconnection, as well as comparison with in situ observations in the magnetosphere and in the solar wind, are presented. The paper concludes with a list of important open questions and suggestions for future work.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Effects of ionospheric O{sup +} on the magnetopause boundary wave activity
In this paper we use a multi-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to explore effects of ionospheric O{sup +} ions on the development of the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability at the flanks of the earth's magnetopause. The model used is the multi-fluid version of the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global magnetospheric MHD simulation code. We set up a controlled numerical experiment whereby the solar wind speed is slowly increased resulting in building up the velocity shear across the magnetopause. As this happens, the KH waves at the magnetopause flanks increase their intensity. Along with the solar wind velocity ramp-up, we introduce O{sup +} fluid in the plasma sheet and watch its influence on the development of the KH instability. We find that the simulation with the O{sup +} ions present at the magnetopause shows a significantly weaker KH wave activity on both edges of the low-latitude boundary layer than the simulation without oxygen but identical otherwise.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DYNAMICS OF STRONGLY TWISTED RELATIVISTIC MAGNETOSPHERES
Magnetar magnetospheres are believed to be strongly twisted due to shearing of the stellar crust by internal magnetic stresses. We present time-dependent axisymmetric simulations showing in detail the evolution of relativistic force-free magnetospheres subjected to slow twisting through large angles. When the twist amplitude is small, the magnetosphere moves quasi-statically through a sequence of equilibria of increasing free energy. At some twist amplitude the magnetosphere becomes tearing-mode unstable to forming a resistive current sheet, initiating large-scale magnetic reconnection in which a significant fraction of the magnetic free energy can be dissipated. This ''critical'' twist angle is insensitive to the resistive length scale. Rapid shearing temporarily stabilizes the magnetosphere beyond the critical angle, allowing the magnetosphere of a rapidly differentially rotating star to store and dissipate more free energy. In addition to these effects, shearing the surface of a rotating star increases the spindown torque applied to the star. If shearing is much slower than rotation, the resulting spikes in spindown rate can occur on timescales anywhere from the long twisting timescale to the stellar spin period or shorter, depending both on the stellar shear distribution and the existing distribution of magnetospheric twists. A model in which energy is stored in the magnetosphere and released by a magnetospheric instability therefore predicts large changes in the measured spindown rate before soft gamma repeater giant flares.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Origins of effective resistivity in collisionless magnetic reconnection
The mechanisms that provide effective resistivity for supporting collisonless magnetic reconnection have remained unsettled despite numerous studies. Some of these studies demonstrated that the electron pressure nongyrotropy generates the resistivity (η{sub npg}) in the electron diffusion region (EDR). We derive an analytical relation for the effective resistivity (η{sub kin}) by momentum balance in a control volume in the EDR. Both η{sub npg} and η{sub kin} mutually compare well and they also compare well with the resistivity required to support reconnection electric field E{sub rec} in multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations as well as in satellite observations when reconnection occurs in an EDR. But they are about an order of magnitude or so smaller than that required when the reconnection occurred in a much wider reconnecting current sheet (RCS) of half width (w) of the order of the ion skin depth (d{sub i}), observed in the Earth magnetosphere. The chaos-induced resistivity reported in the literature is found to be even more deficient. We find that for reconnection in RCS with w ∼ d{sub i}, anomalous diffusion, such as the universal Bhom diffusion and/or that arising from kinetic Alfven waves, could fairly well account for the required resistivity.
58 GEOSCIENCES↗
Quantifying three dimensional reconnection in fragmented current layers
There is growing evidence that when magnetic reconnection occurs in high Lundquist number plasmas such as in the Solar Corona or the Earth's Magnetosphere it does so within a fragmented, rather than a smooth current layer. Within the extent of these fragmented current regions, the associated magnetic flux transfer and energy release occur simultaneously in many different places. This investigation focusses on how best to quantify the rate at which reconnection occurs in such layers. An analytical theory is developed which describes the manner in which new connections form within fragmented current layers in the absence of magnetic nulls. It is shown that the collective rate at which new connections form can be characterized by two measures; a total rate which measures the true rate at which new connections are formed and a net rate which measures the net change of connection associated with the largest value of the integral of E{sub ||} through all of the non-ideal regions. Two simple analytical models are presented which demonstrate how each should be applied and what they quantify.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Fast and slow magnetosonic waves in two-dimensional spin-1/2 quantum plasma
Using the spin-1/2 resistive quantum magnetohydrodynamics model, linear and nonlinear relations for slow and fast magnetosonic modes are derived. Spin effects are incorporated via spin force and macroscopic spin magnetization current. The plasma resistivity is shown to play a role of dissipation in the system. With the aid of tanh method the traveling wave solution of Kadomstev-Petviashvili-Burgers is obtained. The solution shows a general shock wave profile superposed by a perturbative solitary-wave contribution. The dynamics of fast and slow magnetosonic shock and soliton, respectively, in the presence and absence of dissipation is investigated with respect to electron spin magnetization, quantum diffraction, and plasma statistic. It is found that results obtained from the spin quantum plasmas differ significantly from the nonspin quantum plasmas. The relevance of the present work to dense astrophysical plasmas such as pulsar magnetosphere is pointed out.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Electrostatic 'bounce' instability in a magnetotail configuration
To understand the possible destabilization of two-dimensional current sheets, a kinetic model is proposed to describe the resonant interaction between electrostatic modes and trapped particles that bounce within the sheet. This work follows the initial investigation by Tur et al.[Phys. Plasmas 17, 102905 (2010)] that is revised and extended. Using a quasi-parabolic equilibrium state, the linearized gyro-kinetic Vlasov equation is solved for electrostatic fluctuations with period of the order of the electron bounce period. Using an appropriated Fourier expansion of the particle motion along the magnetic field, the complete time integration of the non-local perturbed distribution functions is performed. The dispersion relation for electrostatic modes is then obtained through the quasineutrality condition. It is found that strongly unstable electrostatic modes may develop provided that the current sheet is moderately stretched and, more important, that the proportion of passing particle remains small (less than typically 10%). This strong but finely tuned instability may offer opportunities to explain features of magnetospheric substorms.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
EVIDENCE OF HOT HIGH VELOCITY PHOTOIONIZED PLASMA FALLING ON ACTIVELY ACCRETING T TAURI STARS
The He II (1640 Å) line and the resonance doublet of N V (UV1) provide a good diagnostic tool to constrain the excitation mechanism of hot (T{sub e} > 40,000 K) atmospheric/magnetospheric plasmas in T Tauri stars (TTSs). Making use of the data available in the Hubble Space Telescope archive, this work shows that there are at least two distinct physical components contributing to the radiation in these tracers: the accretion flow sliding on the magnetosphere and the atmosphere. The N V profiles in most sources are symmetric and at rest with respect to the star. The velocity dispersion of the profile increases from non-accreting (σ = 40 km s{sup –1}) to accreting (σ = 120 km s{sup –1}) TTSs, suggesting that the macroturbulence field in the line formation region decreases as the stars approach the main sequence. Evidence of the N V line being formed in a hot solar-like wind has been found in RW Aur, HN Tau, and AA Tau. The He II profile has a strong narrow component that dominates the line flux; the dispersion of this component ranges from 20 to 60 km s{sup –1}. Current data suggest that both accretion shocks and atmospheric emission might contribute to the line flux. In some sources, the He II line shows a broad and redward-shifted emission component often accompanied by semiforbidden O III] emission that has a critical electron density of ∼3.4 × 10{sup 10} cm{sup 3}. In spite of their different origins (inferred from the kinematics of the line formation region), N V and He II fluxes are strongly correlated, with only the possible exception of some of the heaviest accretors.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Anisotropic MHD model and some solutions
MHD waves and instabilities in a collisionless anisotropic-pressure plasma are analyzed in an anisotropic MHD model based on the 16-moment approximation, and the results are found to agree well with those obtained in the low-frequency limit of the kinetic model. It is shown that accounting for heat fluxes leads to an asymmetry in the phase velocities of the wave modes with respect to the heat flux direction and also to a strong interaction between the modes, especially between the backward ones (those that propagate in a direction opposite to that of the heat flux). A correct description of the mirror instability is given. The resonant interaction of three backward modes-fast acoustic, fast magnetosonic, and slow acoustic-under the conditions for the onset of the classical firehose instability triggers a new type of instability the growth rate of which is faster than the maximum growth rate of the conventional firehose instability. The results prove that, in contrast to the familiar Chew-Goldberger-Low approximate model, the anisotropic MHD approach provides a correct description of the large-scale dynamics of collisionless anisotropic plasmas (such as solar corona, solar wind, and ionospheric and magnetospheric plasmas).
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Electrostatic solitary structures in presence of non-thermal electrons and a warm electron beam on the auroral field lines
Electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) have been observed by satellites in the auroral region of the Earth's magnetosphere. These ESWs are found to be having both positive and negative electrostatic potentials. Using the Sagdeeev psuedo-potential technique, arbitrary amplitude electron-acoustic solitary waves/double layers are studied in an unmagnetized plasma consisting of non-thermally distributed hot electrons, fluid cold electrons, a warm electron beam, and ions. The inertia of the warm electrons, and not the beam speed, is essential for the existence of positive potential solitary structures. Existence domains for positive as well as negative potential electrostatic solitons/double layers are obtained. For the typical auroral region parameters, the electric field amplitude of the negative potential solitons is found to be in the range {approx}(3-30) mV/m and {approx}(5-80) mV/m for the positive potential solitons. For the negative potential solitons/double layers, the amplitudes are higher when their widths are smaller. On the other hand, the amplitude of the positive potential structures increase with their widths.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Exploring Localized Geomagnetic Disturbances in Global MHD: Physics and Numerics
One of the prominent effects of space weather is the formation of rapid geomagnetic field variations on Earth's surface driven by the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. These geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) cause geomagnetically induced currents to run through ground conducting systems. In particular, localized GMDs (LGMDs) can be high amplitude and can have an effect on scale sizes less than 100 km, making them hazardous to power grids and difficult to predict. In this study, we examine the ability of the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) to reproduce LGMDs in the 7 September 2017 event using both existing and new metrics to quantify the success of the model against observation. We show that the high-resolution SWMF can reproduce LGMDs driven by ionospheric sources, but struggles to reproduce LGMDs driven by substorm effects. We calculate the global maxima of the magnetic fluctuations to show instances when the SWMF captures LGMDs at the correct times but not the correct locations. To remedy these shortcomings we suggest model developments that will directly impact the ability of the SWMF to reproduce LGMDs, most importantly updating the ionospheric conductance calculation from empirical to physics-based.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
STELLAR VARIABILITY OF THE EXOPLANET HOSTING STAR HD 63454
Of the hundreds of exoplanets discovered using the radial velocity (RV) technique, many are orbiting close to their host stars with periods less than 10 days. One of these, HD 63454, is a young active K dwarf which hosts a Jovian planet in a 2.82 day period orbit. The planet has a 14% transit probability and a predicted transit depth of 1.2%. Here we provide a re-analysis of the RV data to produce an accurate transit ephemeris. We further analyze 8 nights of time series data to search for stellar activity both intrinsic to the star and induced by possible interactions of the exoplanet with the stellar magnetospheres. We establish the photometric stability of the star at the 3 mmag level despite strong Ca II emission in the spectrum. Finally, we rule out photometric signatures of both star-planet magnetosphere interactions and planetary transit signatures. From this we are able to place constraints on both the orbital and physical properties of the planet.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Resonance zones and quasi-linear diffusion coefficients for radiation belt energetic electron interaction with oblique chorus waves in the Dungey magnetosphere
The resonance regions for resonant interactions of radiation belt electrons with obliquely propagating whistler-mode chorus waves are investigated in detail in the Dungey magnetic fields that are parameterized by the intensity of uniform southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz or, equivalently, by the values of D=(M/B{sub z,0}){sup 1/3} (where M is the magnetic moment of the dipole and B{sub z,0} is the uniform southward IMF normal to the dipole's equatorial plane). Adoption of background magnetic field model can considerably modify the determination of resonance regions. Compared to the results for the case of D = 50 (very close to the dipole field), the latitudinal coverage of resonance regions for 200 keV electrons interacting with chorus waves tends to become narrower for smaller D-values, regardless of equatorial pitch angle, resonance harmonics, and wave normal angle. In contrast, resonance regions for 1 MeV electrons tend to have very similar spatial lengths along the field line for various Dungey magnetic field models but cover different magnetic field intervals, indicative of a strong dependence on electron energy. For any given magnetic field line, the resonance regions where chorus-electron resonant interactions can take place rely closely on equatorial pitch angle, resonance harmonics, and kinetic energy. The resonance regions tend to cover broader latitudinal ranges for smaller equatorial pitch angles, higher resonance harmonics, and lower electron energies, consistent with the results in Ni and Summers [Phys. Plasmas 17, 042902, 042903 (2010)]. Calculations of quasi-linear bounce-averaged diffusion coefficients for radiation belt electrons due to nightside chorus waves indicate that the resultant scattering rates differ from using different Dungey magnetic field models, demonstrating a strong dependence of wave-induced electron scattering effect on the adoption of magnetic field model. Our results suggest that resonant wave-particle interaction processes should be implemented into a sophisticated, accurate global magnetic field model to pursue comprehensive and complete models of radiation belt electron dynamics.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
ACCELERATION PHASES OF A SOLAR FILAMENT DURING ITS ERUPTION
Filament eruptions often lead to coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which can affect critical technological systems in space and on the ground when they interact with the geo-magnetosphere at high speeds. Therefore, it is important to investigate the acceleration mechanisms of CMEs in solar/space physics. Based on observations and simulations, the resistive magnetic reconnection and the ideal instability of magnetic flux ropes have been proposed to accelerate CMEs. However, it remains uncertain whether both of them play a comparable role during a particular eruption. It has been extremely difficult to separate their contributions as they often work in a close time sequence during one fast acceleration phase. Here we report an intriguing filament eruption event, which shows two apparently separated fast acceleration phases and provides us an excellent opportunity to address the issue. Through analyzing the correlations between velocity (acceleration) and soft (hard) X-ray profiles, we suggest that the instability and magnetic reconnection make a major contribution during the first and second fast acceleration phases, respectively. Further, we find that both processes have a comparable contribution to the filament acceleration in this event.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Direct measurement of electron sloshing of an inertial Alfvén wave
Here, we report laboratory measurements of the parallel current carried by suprathermal electrons associated with inertial Alfvén wave excitation in the laboratory. The experiments presented here use a novel wave absorption diagnostic that measures the suprathermal tails of the electron distribution parallel to the mean magnetic field. The diagnostic is used to probe the electron distribution as an inertial Alfvén wave propagates along the mean magnetic field. These results identify, for the first time, the periodic motion of suprathermal electrons participating in the inertial Alfvén wave itself, in agreement with predictions from linear kinetic theory.
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
Solitary Magnetic Structures at Quasi–Parallel Collisionless Shocks: Formation
Solitary magnetic structures known as SLAMS (short large-amplitude magnetic structures) have been considered as essential elements of collisionless shocks with quasi-parallel geometries. Yet the physics underlying their formation remains an open question. In this paper, we use measurements from the magnetospheric multiscale mission combined with fully kinetic simulations to study the formation of SLAMS. We find that gyro-resonance between solar wind ions and right-hand circularly polarized electromagnetic waves results in magnetic field amplification. Gyro-trapping by the growing magnetic field builds up the plasma density that further enhances the current and field. The solitary nature of SLAMS stems from a beat-like magnetic field envelope where the maximum sets the initial location for nonlinear growth. Our results present a conceptual advance on SLAMS, and may shed new light on the open question of magnetic field amplification at astrophysical shocks.
58 GEOSCIENCES↗