Kinetic Simulation of Local Transition Layers Associated With the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Interface

Details Kinetic Simulation of Local Transition Layers Associated With the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Interface Kinetic Simulation of Local Transition Layers Associated With the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Interface

Dec 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufmsm12a0465n&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #SM12A-0465

Physics

2407 Auroral Ionosphere (2704), 2431 Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Interactions (2736), 2483 Wave/Particle Interactions, 7839 Nonlinear Phenomena, 7843 Numerical Simulation Studies

Scientific paper

Recent FAST observations1 have revealed strong localized unipolar parallel electric fields (i.e., potential ramps) together with the electric-field signature of upward moving electron holes in the auroral downward current region. These potential jumps separate a colder, denser plasma on the ionospheric side from a hotter, rarer plasma on the magnetospheric side. Thus, the magnetosphere-ionosphere interface may be composed, in part, of a sequence of such transition layers. We have shown via 1-D current-driven Vlasov simulations2 that the observed potential ramps are consistent with transition layers in the form of laminar double layers. The electron-hole turbulence and electron heating on the magnetospheric side are the result of saturation of a two-stream instability driven by electrons accelerated through the potential jump. These simulations, together with more recent 2-D Vlasov simulations with strongly magnetized electrons and ions, suggest that the transition layer can be turbulent as well as laminar and still support significant changes in potential, temperature, and density across the layer. We will present results from the most recent 2-D simulations contrasting the laminar and turbulent regimes. We will also discuss mechanisms, such as the inclusion of realistic ion magnetization and variation in the angle between B and the normal to the layer, that can influence the stability of laminar double layers. Research supported by NSF, NASA, and DOE. 1 R. E. Ergun, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 87, 045003 (2001); L. Andersson et al., Phys. Plasmas, 9, 3600 (2002). 2 D. L. Newman, M. V. Goldman, R. E. Ergun, and A. Mangeney, Phys. Rev. Lett., 87, 255001 (2001).

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