Reformation of the Quasi-Perpendicular Bow Shock: A Comparison of Full Particle Simulations With Cluster observations

Physics

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2154 Planetary Bow Shocks, 2753 Numerical Modeling, 7829 Kinetic Waves And Instabilities, 7851 Shock Waves (4455)

Scientific paper

Based on Cluster magnetic field and particle data obtained during a quasi-perpendicular bow shock crossing on 24 January 2001 Lobzin et al. (GRL 34, 2007) have concluded that the shock is highly nonstationary. We have performed one-dimensional full particle simulations for parameters appropriate to the 24 January 2001 shock crossing with a realistic ion to electron mass ratio. The shock exhibits large amplitude whistler waves with downstream directed phase velocities and with a frequency close to 2Hz. The Poynting flux is directed into the upstream direction. Such high frequency fluctuations have also been observed in the Cluster magnetic field data. However, in the simulations we do not obtain lower frequency waves characteristic of a nonlinear whistler train embedded in the shock front which eventually results in shock reformation, i.e., the shock is steady and non-reforming. When putting an artificial spacecraft into the simulation which moves through the shock with a constant velocity we obtain magnetic field profiles similar to the observed ones with multiple peaks in the shock transition region. However these peaks are not related to a nonlinear whistler but are due to slight back and forth motions of the ramp/overshoot. It is concluded that either (1) the reformation process during this crossing is due to a two-dimensional effect not adequately described by the 1-D simulation or (2) this shock was not reforming and the different profiles are due to small scale motions of the shock relative to the spacecraft.

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