Dipolarization fronts: Particle simulations with open boundaries and THEMIS observations

Details Dipolarization fronts: Particle simulations with open boundaries and THEMIS observations Dipolarization fronts: Particle simulations with open boundaries and THEMIS observations

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm52a..02s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM52A-02

Physics

[2723] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Reconnection, [2744] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetotail, [2753] Magnetospheric Physics / Numerical Modeling, [2790] Magnetospheric Physics / Substorms

Scientific paper

Earthward-propagating dipolarization fronts (DFs), characterized by a strong and steep increase of the tail magnetic field component Bz normal to the neutral plane and preceded by a much less negative dip of Bz, are reported in many observations of bursty bulk flows and substorm activations throughout the whole Earth's magnetotail. We present the results of simulations of DFs using the explicit massively parallelized full-particle code P3D with open boundaries and compare them with THEMIS observations. Consistent with simulations, the observed DFs are found to be microscopic shock-like structures with the thickness of the order of the ion inertial length, which propagate over macroscopic distances up to ten Earth radii from the mid- to near-Earth tail. To better fit observations, the formation of DFs in negatively charged thin current sheets is simulated. Negative charging appears to attenuate the primary reconnection near X-lines, but it does not significantly change the process of the DF formation and propagation. In spite of the fact, that in a negatively charged current sheet the dawn-dusk bulk flow speed of ions is less than that of electrons, the work made by the DF electromagnetic field over the plasma particles is dominated by the ion species. This results in particular in a significant buildup of the ion current-aligned speed and may be an important source of the current-aligned instabilities with the subsequent electron heating in fronts.

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