Formation of imbedded rotational discontinuities with nearly field aligned normals

Details Formation of imbedded rotational discontinuities with nearly field aligned normals Formation of imbedded rotational discontinuities with nearly field aligned normals

Jan 1998

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998jgr...103..349v&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 10, p. 349

Physics

13

Solar Wind, Magnetohydrodynamic Waves, Solar Magnetic Field, Gyromagnetism, Ion Cyclotron Radiation, Polarization (Waves), Digital Simulation, Magnetic Field Configurations, Waveforms, Fourier Transformation, Discontinuity

Scientific paper

We present hybrid numerical simulations of a small number of low-frequency Alfven waves and, for the first time, show how to produce imbedded rotational discontinuities (RDs) with a small angle between their asymptotic and normal fields which are stable against dispersion. When the initial waves are linearly polarized and give a waveform whose Fourier components of B-squared have wave vectors within about 10 deg of the background magnetic field B(0), the waveform tends to steepen even for small amplitudes. This produces RDs with normals nearly along B(0) and nearly constant B between the RDs. However, the waveform is not steady because these RDs widen continually due to the presence of dispersive intermediate or ion cyclotron modes which are permanently attached to their edges. When the initial waveform is modified by including a transverse field component with a wavenumber equaling that from the Fourier component of B-squared along B(0) so that the field moves on an 'elliptical' arc, the dispersive intermediate modes no longer develop, and the waveform and imbedded RDs evolve toward a steady state with nearly constant B and a 'circular' arc polarization. Spherically polarized waveforms can be made in a similar manner. Only this type of waveform produces RDs without intermediate modes on their edges for all parameters.

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