Wave and ion evolution downstream of quasi-perpendicular bow shocks

Details Wave and ion evolution downstream of quasi-perpendicular bow shocks Wave and ion evolution downstream of quasi-perpendicular bow shocks

Mar 1995

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995jgr...100.3427m&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 100, no. A3, p. 3427-3437

Physics

31

Ion Cyclotron Radiation, Ion Distribution, Magnetosheath, Plasma Waves, Shock Waves, Anisotropy, Computerized Simulation, Ion Temperature, Power Spectra, Stability

Scientific paper

Distribution functions of ions heated in quasi-perpendicular bow shocks have a large perpendicular temperature anisotropy that provides free energy for the growth of Alfven ion cyclotron (AIC) waves and mirror waves. Both types of waves have been observed in the Earth's magnetosheath downstream of quasi-perpendicular shocks. We use a two-dimensional hybrid simulations to give a self-consistent description of the evolution of the wave spectra downstream of quasi-perpendicular shocks. Both mirror and AIC waves are identified in the simulated magnetosheath. They are generated at or near the shock front and convected away from it by the sheath plasma. Near the shock, the waves have a broad spectrum, but downstream of the shock, shorter-wavelength modes are heavily damped and only longer-wavelength modes persist. The characteristics of these surviving modes can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by linear kinetic theory appropriate for downstream conditions. We also follow the evolution of the ion distribution function. The shocked ions that provide the free energy for wave growth have a two-component distribution function. The halo is initially gyrophase-bunched and extremely anisotropic. Within a relatively short distance downstream of the shock (of the order of 10 ion inertial lengths), wave-particle interactions remove these features from the halo and reduce the anisotropy of the distribution to near-threshold levels for the mirror and AIC instabilities. A similar evolution has been observed for ions at the Earth's bow shock.

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