Physics – Geophysics
Scientific paper
Apr 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994jgr....99.5869h&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 99, no. A4, p. 5869-5875
Physics
Geophysics
3
Geomagnetic Tail, Magnetic Field Configurations, Magnetic Field Reconnection, Magnetic Storms, Magnetohydrodynamic Flow, Particle Acceleration, Computerized Simulation, Daytime, Geophysics, Lines Of Force, Pressure Gradients, Space Plasmas
Scientific paper
Magnetic reconnection between antiparallel field lines in the magnetotail is generally thought to produce plasma acceleration in the earthward-tailward direction. However, measurements of the plasma velocity in the magnetotail during substorm activity sometimes reveal a dawn-dusk component of plasma flow. In this paper, we show that a dawn-dusk component of plasma acceleration may be produced during reconnection if the neutral line is not perpendicular to the magnetic field. In this case, Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations show that reconnection between antiparallel field lines will initially produce plasma acceleration that is nearly parallel to the neutral line because the magnetic tension force is not opposed by a pressure gradient force in this direction. As the magnetic field topology evolves to a steady state, the plasma flow direction rotates until it is nearly parallel to the plane that initially contained the antiparallel magnetic field lines before reconnection (hereafter referred to as the initial field plane). However, the time required to reach a steady state (typically several hundred seconds in the magnetotail region) may be greater than the time during which the reconnection process is active. Consequently, bursts of plasma flow with a dawn-dusk component may occur in the magnetotail. The initial acceleration along the neutral line depends on the angle theta (sub B) between the neutral line and the initial field plane, with the largest burst of plasma flow along the neutral line occuring when theta (s ub B) = 45 degs.
Hawkins Gary J.
Lee Clarence L.
Lin Yangtin
Perkins Francis W.
Yamada Mitsuru
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