Physics
Scientific paper
Sep 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994georl..21.2059w&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 21, no. 18, p. 2059-2062
Physics
3
Collisionless Plasmas, Discontinuity, Electric Potential, Magnetohydrodynamics, Mathematical Models, Electron Energy, Field Aligned Currents, Pressure Gradients, Velocity Distribution
Scientific paper
Contact discontinuities in a collisionless plasma are studied by hybrid simulations, in which ions are treated as particles and electrons are considered as a fluid. It is demonstrated that contact discontinuity with a stable density ramp can exist in cases with a finite electron temperature. An electron pressure gradient is present across the contact discontinuity, leading to the presence of a parallel electric field and hence field-aligned potential increase (Delta Phi (sub parallel)) in the transition region. By reflecting ions at the discontinuity, this parallel electric potential peak reduces the interpenetration between hot and cold ions and maintains a stable density ramp across the contact discontinuity. The ratio of the field-aligned electric potential energy to ion thermal energy, e(Delta) Phi(sub parallel)/kT(sub i), is found to be an increasing function of T(sub e)/T(sub i), where T(sub e) and T(sub i) are respectively the electron and ion temperature.
Chao Jerry K.
Lee Clarence L.
Lin Yangtin
Tsai Wei-Hsiung
Wu Bor-Han
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