Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufmsm33b0354h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #SM33B-0354
Physics
2744 Magnetotail, 2764 Plasma Sheet, 7807 Charged Particle Motion And Acceleration, 7839 Nonlinear Phenomena (4400, 6944)
Scientific paper
Multi point measurements of the central current sheet by the Cluster spacecrafts have pointed toward the formation of bifurcated current sheet structures (i.e., a magnetic field reversal that has two separate current sheets with an extended region of weak, nearly uniform magnetic field between them.) This type of structure has also been inferred from single spacecraft Geotail magnetic field data by the existence of long time intervals in which the spacecraft is in a very weak magnetic field. In this paper we examine the effects that the bifurcated sheet has on the nonlinear charged particle dynamics. In particular we examine the resonant scattering of particles and on the underlying partitioning of phase space. We find that the phase space retains the basic partitioning into dynamically distinct regions and that there is still a resonant scattering of particles by the current sheet. We also find however, that the separation between the peaks in the ion distribution function is modified. As the separation between the current sheets increases, the peaks in the distribution broaden and become farther apart in energy. In addition, whereas the separation between the peaks is still proportional to the fourth root of the energy, they have one scale factor for low energies and high energies. This is because the low energy particles primarily interact with current sheet in the weak field region whereas the higher energy particles can interact with both the weak and strong field regions. Distributions functions exhibiting resonance peaks with different scaling for low and high energies with are common in satellite data and may be indicative of a bifurcated current sheet structure.
Holland Daniel L.
Zich R.
No associations
LandOfFree
Effect of a Bifurcated Current Sheet on Charged Particle Dynamics in the Magnetotail does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Effect of a Bifurcated Current Sheet on Charged Particle Dynamics in the Magnetotail, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Effect of a Bifurcated Current Sheet on Charged Particle Dynamics in the Magnetotail will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-973169