Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsm33b..01v&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SM33B-01
Physics
2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions (2431), 2740 Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, 2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033), 2784 Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions, 7807 Charged Particle Motion And Acceleration
Scientific paper
Planetary magnetospheres exhibit an amazing variety of phenomena, unlimited in complexity if followed into endlessly fine detail. The challenge of theory is to understand this variety and complexity, ultimately by seeing how the observed effects follow from the basic equations of physics (a point emphasized by Eugene Parker). The basic equations themselves are remarkably simple, only their consequences being exceedingly complex (a point emphasized by Fred Hoyle). In this lecture I trace the development of electrodynamics as an essential ingredient of magnetospheric physics, through the three stages it has undergone to date. Stage I is the initial application of MHD concepts and constraints (sometimes phrased in equivalent single-particle terms). Stage II is the classical formulation of self-consistent coupling between magnetosphere and ionosphere. Stage III is the more recent recognition that properly elucidating time sequence and cause-effect relations requires Maxwell's equations combined with the unique constraints of large-scale plasma. Problems and controversies underlie the transition from each stage to the following. For each stage, there are specific observed aspects of the magnetosphere that can be understood at its level; also, each stage implies a specific way to formulate unresolved questions (particularly important in this age of extensive multi-point observations and ever-more-detailed numerical simulations).
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