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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

Collisionless dissipation processes in quasi-parallel shocks

The evolution of collisionless, quasi-parallel shocks (the angle between the shock normal and the upstream magnetic field being less than 45 deg) is examined using two dimensional particle simulations. Reflected ions upstream from the shock are observed with average guiding center velocity and gyrational energy which agree well with the prediction of simple specular reflection. Strong ion heating through the shock ramp is apparently caused by large amplitude whistler turbulence. A flux of suprathermal electrons is also the magnetic field direction. Much stronger ion heating occurs in the shock than electron heating. The relevance of this work to the earth's bow shock is discussed.

Quest, K. B.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Long-time states of inverse cascades in the presence of a maximum length scale

It is shown numerically, both for the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes (guiding-center plasma) equations and for two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics, that the long-time asymptotic state in a forced inverse-cascade situation is one in which the spectrum is completely dominated by its own fundamental. The growth continues until the fundamental is dissipatively limited by its own dissipation rate. Previously announced in STAR as N83-23546

Hossain, M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Electron energization in the geomagnetic tail current sheet

Electron motion in the geomagnetic tail current sheet is examined analytically. An estimation of the energization of electrons trapped by the convective field is made independent of a guiding center approximation. The electrons in the energy range 100 eV - 100 keV have their pitch angle scattered and trapped in the current sheet until accelerated by the convective field. Predictions are made for the electrons that escape the current sheet, electron precipitation in diffuse auroral phenomena and current sheet interactions as a source for plasma sheet electrons and ions.

Lyons, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Notes on drift theory

It is shown that there is a simpler way to derive the average guiding center drift of a distribution of particles than via the so-called single particle analysis. Based on this derivation it is shown that the entire drift formalism can be considerably simplified, and that results for low order anisotropies are more generally valid than is usually appreciated. This drift analysis leads to a natural alternative derivation of the drift velocity along a neutral sheet.

Burger, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A component of nongyrotropic (phase-bunched) electrons upstream from the earth's bow shock

The count rates of 1.5- and 6-keV electrons measured on ISEE 1 and ISEE 2 are at times strongly spin modulated despite the fact that the axes of the detectors lie along the spin axis of the spacecraft. Spatial gradients in the guiding center density are ruled out as a cause of the spin modulation. The characteristics of the spin modulation can be explained if the electron velocity distribution is nongyrotropic. The procedure is to show that the direction of the plasma flow velocity during times of spin modulation does not lie along the direction of the local magnetic field when both are projected onto the ecliptic plane. While a gyrotropic distribution will cause spin modulation, the count rate maximum will correspond to the direction of the local magnetic field. Gyrophase-bunched electrons are seen within a few tens of kilometers of the shock and as far upstream as 30,000 km from the shock, suggesting that a wave is associated with their propagation. The magnetosheath electrons in the same energy range are also nongyrotropic at times.

Anderson, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Thermal equilibrium of a cryogenic magnetized pure electron plasma

The thermal equilibrium correlation properties of a magnetically confined pure electron plasma (McPEP) are related to those of a one-component plasma (OCP). The N-particle spatial distribution rho sub s and the Helmholtz free energy F are evaluated for the McPEP to O(lambda sub d-squared/a-squared), where lambda sub d is the thermal de Broglie wavelength and is an interparticle spacing. The electron gyromotion is allowed to be fully quantized while the guiding center motion is quasi-classical. The distribution rho sub s is shown to be identical to that of a classical OCP with a slightly modified potential. To O(lambda sub d-squared/a-squared) this modification does not affect that part of F that is caused by correlations, as long as certain requirements concerning the size of the plasma are met. This theory is motivated by a current series of experiments that involve the cooling of a magnetically confined pure electron plasma to the cryogenic temperature range.

Dubin, D. H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Particle acceleration at a termination shock. I - Application to the solar wind and the anomalous component

The results of a numerical study of the diffusive acceleration of charged particles at the termination shock of the solar wind are reported. In the model a realistic magnetic field structure is employed which is similar to that observed in the solar wind. In addition to causing spatial variation of the diffusion tensor, a major effect of the magnetic field is to cause guiding-center drifts of the accelerated particles, both in the solar wind and at the shock. It is demonstrated that the inclusion of the drifts has a large effect on the acceleration. It is concluded, furthermore, that acceleration at the termination shock, in conjunction with drifts, can explain several observed features of the anomalous component.

Jokipii, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The motion of ions specularly reflected off a quasi-parallel shock in the presence of large-amplitude, monochromatic MHD waves

A model is used to examine the motion of specularly reflected ions in the presence of large-amplitude, monochromatic, transverse MHD waves. The calculations of ion trajectories are described. The heating downstream from the quasi-parallel bow shock is analyzed. The relationship between the specularly reflected ions and their gyrospeeds and guiding center speeds is studied. The data reveal that the characteristics of the motion depend on the frequency, wavelength, phase, and amplitude of the wave that is converted into the shock.

Fuselier, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Centrifugal acceleration of ions in the polar magnetosphere

The transport of ionospheric ions originating near the dayside cusp into the magnetotail is parametrically studied using a 3-D model of ion trajectories. It is shown that the centrifugal term in the guiding center parallel force equation dominates the parallel motion after about 4 Re geocentric distance. The dependence of the equatorial crossing distance on initial latitude, energy and convection electric field is presented for ions originating on the dayside ionosphere in the noon-midnight plane. It is also found that up to altitudes of about 5 Re, the motion is similar to that of a bead on a rotating rod, for which a simple analytical solution exists.

Swinney, Kenneth R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

On the transport of ions released in the magnetotail by the AMPTE-IRM satellite

The Ba and Li ions releasd into the magnetotail in spring 1985 by the AMPTE-IRM satellite were not observed subsequently in the inner magnetosphere with the AMPTE-CCE satellite. These results were studied by using a Monte Carlo code to compute the transport of the ions. For each release several hundred ion guiding-center trajectories were computed under simulated magnetospheric conditions, using the Tsyganenko-Usmanov (1982) magnetic-field model and the Millstone Hill convection-electric-field model (Oliver et al., 1983). The corotation and convection electric fields were mapped to altitudes above the ionosphere, assuming the magnetic-field lines to be equipotentials. The initial conditions of the ions, at the times at which the ions were picked up by the electric field, were estimated by taking into consideration the release conditions and the early-time collective effects. The results indicate that the Ba(+) ions were not observed because the CCE satellite was not along the drift paths of the ions, and the Li(+) ions were not observed because their fluxes at the satellite were too low.

Cladis, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Transport of ions injected by AMPTE magnetotail releases

The BA and Li ions released in the magnetotail by the AMPTE IRM satellite were not observed in the inner magnetosphere with the AMPTE CCE satellite. In an effort to understand these results, Cladis and Francis (1988) modeled the expansion and ionization of the released atoms and computed several hundred guiding-center trajectories of the ions to sample the motion of each ion cloud. Here, the transport calculations are improved, principally by computing the full gyration motion of the ions in a more realistic model of the geomagnetic tail. The results indicate that the Ba(+) ions were convected inward along a narrow corridor, which was at least 2 earth radii away from the satellite in the case of the first Ba release and at least 3 earth radii away in the case of the second Ba release. Even if the ions had reached the satellite, their energies would have been too low to be detected. The Li(+) ions from both releases drifted inward over broad regions which overlapped the satellite in space and time. However, their fluxes at the satellite were somewhat too low to be detected.

Cladis, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A new kinetic model for time-dependent polar plasma outflow - Initial results

A new time-dependent kinetic plasma outflow model has been developed, which uses a kinetic description of the parallel motions of the ion guiding centers, while assuming the electrons are a massless neutralizing fluid. The ions, O(+) and H(+) are followed as individual particles which respond to the gravitational, magnetic mirror and ambipolar electric forces as they move in one dimension along a magnetic flux tube. Results are presented for a case where the electron temperature in the flux tube is raised from a value near the ion temperature (3000 K) to a value of 10,000 K.

Wilson, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Statistical-mechanical selection of the shapes of disk galaxies

A new method is proposed for selecting steady state shapes of disk galaxies as 'most probable states' of a large number of stars, given only the total energy and total angular momentum. A partial differential equation is derived for the mean gravitational potential; it is closely related to the 'sinh-Poisson' equation for the mean-field description of a line vortex system or electrostatic guiding-center plasma. A 'water bag' approximation to the distribution function for bound stars renders the equation analytically tractable, but accurate solution of it may require numerical integration, in view of its general nonlinearity.

Montgomery, David↗
NASA NTRS1992

Distribution in magnetotail of O(+) ions from cusp/cleft ionosphere - A possible substorm trigger

The transport of O(+) ions from the cusp/cleft ionosphere to the magnetotail during highly disturbed times was determined by computing the guiding-center trajectories of the ions to a distance of 6 R(E) from the ionosphere and the full-motion trajectories at later times. Case histories were tallied in six planes perpendicular to the X(GSM) axis, three planes perpendicular to the Y(GSM) axis, and in the center plane of the tail. At various times relative to the enhancement of the convection electric field, the following ion properties were constructed from the case histories: number density, mean energy, energy and pitch angle distributions of the flux, and ion pressure components parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field. It was found that, after about 1.7 hours, the ion flux in the near-earth magnetotail increased dramatically and the spectrum hardened, much as observed during periods just preceding substorms. This increase is attributed to (1) the increase in the O(+) outflux from the ionosphere, (2) the increased energization of the ions by the convection electric field, and (3) ion trapping, which generally occurs because the ion magnetic moments generally increase after the ions first cross the geomagnetotail center plane.

Cladis, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The polarization electric field and its effects in an anisotropic rotating magnetospheric plasma

Spatial variations of density and temperature along a magnetic field line are evaluated for a plasma undergoing adiabatic motion in a rotating magnetosphere. The effects of centrifugal and gravitational forces are accounted for, as is anisotropy in the pitch angle distribution functions of individual species. A polarization electric field is invoked to eliminate the net electric charge density resulting from the aforementioned mass dependent forces and different anisotropies. The position of maximum density in a two-component, electron-ion plasma is determined both in the absence and in the presence of the polarization effect and compared. A scale height, generalized to include anisotropies, is derived for the density fall-off. The polarization electric field is also included in the parallel guiding center equation; equilibrium points are determined and compared in both individual and average senses with the position of density maximum. Finally a transverse (to magnetic field lines) electric component is deduced as a consequence of dissimilar charge neutralization on adjacent field lines. The E x B velocity resultant from such a 'fringing' electric field is calculated and compared with the magnitude of other drifts.

Huang, T. S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Inferences Concerning the Magnetospheric Source Region for Auroral Breakup

It is argued that the magnetospheric source region for auroral arc breakup and substorm initiation is along boundary plasma sheet (BPS) magnetic field lines. This source region lies beyond a distinct central plasma sheet (CPS) region and sufficiently far from the Earth that energetic ion motion violates the guiding center approximation (i.e., is chaotic). The source region is not constrained to any particular range of distances from the Earth, and substorm initiation may be possible over a wide range of distances from near synchronous orbit to the distant tail. It is also argued that the layer of low-energy electrons and velocity dispersed ion beams observed at low altitudes on Aureol 3 is not a different region from the region of auroral arcs. Both comprise the BPS. The two regions occasionally appear distinct at low altitudes because of the effects of arc field-aligned potential drops on precipitating particles.

Lyons, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Annual, orbital, and enigmatic variations in tropical oceanography recorded by the Equatorial Atlantic amplifier

Equatorial Atlantic surface waters respond directly to changes in zonal and meridional lower tropospheric winds forced by annual insolation. This mechanism has its maximum effect along the equatorial wave guide centered on 10 deg W. The result is to amplify even subtle tropical climate changes such that they are recorded by marked amplitude changes in the proxy signals. Model realizations, NCAR AGCM and OGCM for 0 Ka and 126 Ka (January and July), and paleoceanographic proxy data show that these winds are also forced by insolation changes at the orbital periods of precession and obliquity. Perhelion in boreal summer produces a strengthened monsoon, e.g., increase meridional and decrease zonal wind stress. This reduces oceanic Ekman divergence and thermocline/nutricline shallowing. The result, in the equatorial Atlantic, is reduced primary productivity and higher euphotic zone temperatures; vice versa for perihelion in boreal winter. Perihelion is controlled by precession. Thus, the dominant period in spectra from a stacked SST record (0-252 Ka BP) at the site of the equatorial Atlantic amplifier is 23 Ky (53 percent of the total variance). This precessional period is coherent (k = 0.920) and in phase with boreal summer insolation. Oscillations of shorter period are present in records from cores sited beneath the amplifier region. These occur between 12.5 and 74.5 Ka BP, when eccentricity modulation of precession is at a minimum. Within this time interval there are 21 cycles with mean periods of 3.0 plus or minus 0.5 Ky. Similar periods have been documented from high latitude regions, e.g., Greenland ice cores from Camp Century. The Camp Century signal in this same time interval contains 21 cycles. A subjective correlation was made between the Camp Century and the equatorial records; the signals were statistically similar, r = 0.722 and k = 0.960.

Mcintyre, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS1993

Loss of ring current O(+) ions due to interaction with Pc 5 waves

A test particle code is used here to investigate ring current ion interaction with Pc 5 waves, combined with convection and corotation electric fields, with emphasis on the loss of O(+) ions over the dayside magnetosphere. A new loss mechanism for the O(+) ions due to the combined effects of convection and corotation electric fields and interactions with Pc 5 waves via a magnetic drift-bound resonance is presented. For given fields, whether a particle gains or losses energy depends on its initial kinetic energy, pitch angle at the equatorial plane, and the position of its guiding center with respect to the azimuthal phase of the wave. The ring current O(+) ions show a dispersion in energies and L values with decreasing local time across the dayside, and a bulk shift to lower energies and higher L values. Due to interaction with the Pc 5 waves, the particle's kinetic energy can drop below that required to overcome the convection potential and the particle is lost to the dayside magnetopause by a sunward E x B drift.

Li, Xinlin↗