Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003agufmsm52b0586l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #SM52B-0586
Other
2724 Magnetopause, Cusp, And Boundary Layers, 2728 Magnetosheath, 2752 Mhd Waves And Instabilities, 2784 Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions, 7843 Numerical Simulation Studies
Scientific paper
Simulation results of Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability at a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) tangential discontinuity (TD) show asymmetric development of nonlinear waves when magnetic field is perpendicular to the velocity shear on one side of the TD but parallel to the velocity shear on the other side of the TD. To explain these simulation results, an analytic study is carried out to obtain generalized solutions of K-H instability. Both incompressibility and pure surface wave conditions are removed from our basic assumptions. Nonlinear waves in our model are allowed to propagate at directions both tangent and normal to the surface of TD. Plasma is assumed to follow an adiabatic process. Nonlinear waves on two sides of the TD have a common tangential wavelength, but may have different normal wavelengths. Wave amplitude is assumed to decay exponentially away from the surface of TD. Our solutions indicate that the exponential decay length increases with increasing normal wavelength. On the other hand, the normal wavelength will decrease with increasing velocity shear. Our simulation results are in good agreement with the analytic solutions. For magnetic field parallel or anti-parallel to the velocity shear direction, the normal wavelength is much longer than the tangential wavelength. Thus, nonlinear waves are developed from the TD like a toothbrush with wave normal nearly perpendicular to the normal of the TD. With flow energy converted into wave energy and carried away from the TD, amplification of the surface wave become stabilized. Only a finite amplitude disturbance can be found at surface of the TD in our simulation. Our analytic solutions and simulation results indicate possible existence of another type of nonlinear waves in magnetosheath and in the tail lobes as a result of solar wind-magnetopause interactions.
Lai Stan
Lyu L.
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