Computer simulation of Alfven waves and double layers along auroral magnetic field lines

Details Computer simulation of Alfven waves and double layers along auroral magnetic field lines Computer simulation of Alfven waves and double layers along auroral magnetic field lines

Apr 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994jgr....99.6351s&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 99, no. A4, p. 6351-6365

Physics

Geophysics

12

Auroral Zones, Magnetic Field Configurations, Magnetohydrodynamic Waves, Particle Acceleration, Plasma Layers, Wave Interaction, Computerized Simulation, Geophysics, Ion Acoustic Waves, Particle In Cell Technique

Scientific paper

A plasma simulation has been developed to model interactions between inertial Alfven waves and double layers and to investigate their relative contributions at auroral particle acceleration. We use a novel one-dimensional particle-in-cell code, with periodic boundary conditions, to model the nonlinear excitation of current-driven weak double layers via free energy supplied by an inertial Alfven wave. Analysis of the simulation output shows that double layers are not the agent primarily responsible for electron acceleration. Rather, the inertial Alfven wave accelerates groups of electrons into a steepening beam as it encounters them. As the beam electrons reenter the main distribution, decelerated by anomalous resistive effects, they are replaced by electrons farther downstream. Hence, the particles do not free-stream over the length of the channel. Furthermore, this wave action persists even when the system is linearly stable to ion-acoustic modes, precluding the possibility that this behavior is brought about by the formation of ion-acoustic double layers.

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