scholarly journals Possible configurations of the magnetic field in the outer magnetosphere during geomagnetic polarity reversals

2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Willis ◽  
A. C. Holder ◽  
C. J. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Spherical Cavity ◽  
Exact Equation ◽  
Outer Magnetosphere ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics ◽  
Polarity Reversals ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
Geomagnetic Polarity ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. Possible configurations of the magnetic field in the outer magnetosphere during geomagnetic polarity reversals are investigated by considering the idealized problem of a magnetic multipole of order m and degree n located at the centre of a spherical cavity surrounded by a boundless perfect diamagnetic medium. In this illustrative idealization, the fixed spherical (magnetopause) boundary layer behaves as a perfectly conducting surface that shields the external diamagnetic medium from the compressed multipole magnetic field, which is therefore confined within the spherical cavity. For a general magnetic multipole of degree n, the non-radial components of magnetic induction just inside the magnetopause are increased by the factor {1 + [(n + 1)/n]} relative to their corresponding values in the absence of the perfectly conducting spherical magnetopause. An exact equation is derived for the magnetic field lines of an individual zonal (m = 0), or axisymmetric, magnetic multipole of arbitrary degree n located at the centre of the magnetospheric cavity. For such a zonal magnetic multipole, there are always two neutral points and n-1 neutral rings on the spherical magnetopause surface. The two neutral points are located at the poles of the spherical magnetopause. If n is even, one of the neutral rings is coincident with the equator; otherwise, the neutral rings are located symmetrically with respect to the equator. The actual existence of idealized higher-degree (n>1) axisymmetric magnetospheres would necessarily imply multiple (n + 1) magnetospheric cusps and multiple (n) ring currents. Exact equations are also derived for the magnetic field lines of an individual non-axisymmetric magnetic multipole, confined by a perfectly conducting spherical magnetopause, in two special cases; namely, a symmetric sectorial multipole (m = n) and an antisymmetric sectorial multipole (m = n-1). For both these non-axisymmetric magnetic multipoles, there exists on the spherical magnetopause surface a set of neutral points linked by a network of magnetic field lines. Novel magnetospheric processes are likely to arise from the existence of magnetic neutral lines that extend from the magnetopause to the surface of the Earth. Finally, magnetic field lines that are confined to, or perpendicular to, either special meridional planes or the equatorial plane, when the multipole is in free space, continue to be confined to, or perpendicular to, these same planes when the perfectly conducting magnetopause is present.Key words. Geomagnetism and paleomagnetism (reversals-process, time scale, magnetostratigraphy) · Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers; magnetospheric configuration and dynamics)

scholarly journals Solar force-free magnetic fields

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wiegelmann ◽  
Takashi Sakurai
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Coronal Magnetic Field ◽  
Electric Currents ◽  
Magnetic Forces ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Force Free Field

AbstractThe structure and dynamics of the solar corona is dominated by the magnetic field. In most areas in the corona magnetic forces are so dominant that all non-magnetic forces such as plasma pressure gradients and gravity can be neglected in the lowest order. This model assumption is called the force-free field assumption, as the Lorentz force vanishes. This can be obtained by either vanishing electric currents (leading to potential fields) or the currents are co-aligned with the magnetic field lines. First we discuss a mathematically simpler approach that the magnetic field and currents are proportional with one global constant, the so-called linear force-free field approximation. In the generic case, however, the relationship between magnetic fields and electric currents is nonlinear and analytic solutions have been only found for special cases, like 1D or 2D configurations. For constructing realistic nonlinear force-free coronal magnetic field models in 3D, sophisticated numerical computations are required and boundary conditions must be obtained from measurements of the magnetic field vector in the solar photosphere. This approach is currently a large area of research, as accurate measurements of the photospheric field are available from ground-based observatories such as the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun and the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) and space-born, e.g., from Hinode and the Solar Dynamics Observatory. If we can obtain accurate force-free coronal magnetic field models we can calculate the free magnetic energy in the corona, a quantity which is important for the prediction of flares and coronal mass ejections. Knowledge of the 3D structure of magnetic field lines also help us to interpret other coronal observations, e.g., EUV images of the radiating coronal plasma.

scholarly journals Magnetic nulls in interacting dipolar fields

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Elder ◽  
Allen H. Boozer
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Current Density ◽  
Magnetic Flux Tube ◽  
Electron Inertia ◽  
Characteristic Spatial Scale ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
Dipolar Fields ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Magnetic Null ◽  
The Magnetic Field

The prominence of nulls in reconnection theory is due to the expected singular current density and the indeterminacy of field lines at a magnetic null. Electron inertia changes the implications of both features. Magnetic field lines are distinguishable only when their distance of closest approach exceeds a distance $\varDelta _d$ . Electron inertia ensures $\varDelta _d\gtrsim c/\omega _{pe}$ . The lines that lie within a magnetic flux tube of radius $\varDelta _d$ at the place where the field strength $B$ is strongest are fundamentally indistinguishable. If the tube, somewhere along its length, encloses a point where $B=0$ vanishes, then distinguishable lines come no closer to the null than $\approx (a^2c/\omega _{pe})^{1/3}$ , where $a$ is a characteristic spatial scale of the magnetic field. The behaviour of the magnetic field lines in the presence of nulls is studied for a dipole embedded in a spatially constant magnetic field. In addition to the implications of distinguishability, a constraint on the current density at a null is obtained, and the time required for thin current sheets to arise is derived.

Magnetic Field Spectroheliograms from the San Fernando Observatory

1971 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 329-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Vrabec
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Spiral Structure ◽  
Longitudinal Component ◽  
Solar Telescope ◽  
Solar Magnetic Fields ◽  
San Fernando ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Network

Zeeman spectroheliograms of photospheric magnetic fields (longitudinal component) in the CaI 6102.7 Å line are being obtained with the new 61-cm vacuum solar telescope and spectroheliograph, using the Leighton technique. The structure of the magnetic field network appears identical to the bright photospheric network visible in the cores of many Fraunhofer lines and in CN spectroheliograms, with the exception that polarities are distinguished. This supports the evolving concept that solar magnetic fields outside of sunspots exist in small concentrations of essentially vertically oriented field, roughly clumped to form a network imbedded in the otherwise field-free photosphere. A timelapse spectroheliogram movie sequence spanning 6 hr revealed changes in the magnetic fields, including a systematic outward streaming of small magnetic knots of both polarities within annular areas surrounding several sunspots. The photospheric magnetic fields and a series of filtergrams taken at various wavelengths in the Hα profile starting in the far wing are intercompared in an effort to demonstrate that the dark strands of arch filament systems (AFS) and fibrils map magnetic field lines in the chromosphere. An example of an active region in which the magnetic fields assume a distinct spiral structure is presented.

scholarly journals Efficiency of thermal conduction in a magnetized circumgalactic medium

2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (1) ◽  
pp. 1263-1278
Author(s):  
Richard Kooij ◽  
Asger Grønnow ◽  
Filippo Fraternali
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Thermal Conduction ◽  
Large Temperature ◽  
Gas Condensation ◽  
Circumgalactic Medium ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
Gas Accretion ◽  
Cloud Evolution ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Cold Gas

ABSTRACT The large temperature difference between cold gas clouds around galaxies and the hot haloes that they are moving through suggests that thermal conduction could play an important role in the circumgalactic medium. However, thermal conduction in the presence of a magnetic field is highly anisotropic, being strongly suppressed in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field lines. This is commonly modelled by using a simple prescription that assumes that thermal conduction is isotropic at a certain efficiency f < 1, but its precise value is largely unconstrained. We investigate the efficiency of thermal conduction by comparing the evolution of 3D hydrodynamical (HD) simulations of cold clouds moving through a hot medium, using artificially suppressed isotropic thermal conduction (with f), against 3D magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations with (true) anisotropic thermal conduction. Our main diagnostic is the time evolution of the amount of cold gas in conditions representative of the lower (close to the disc) circumgalactic medium of a Milky-Way-like galaxy. We find that in almost every HD and MHD run, the amount of cold gas increases with time, indicating that hot gas condensation is an important phenomenon that can contribute to gas accretion on to galaxies. For the most realistic orientations of the magnetic field with respect to the cloud motion we find that f is in the range 0.03–0.15. Thermal conduction is thus always highly suppressed, but its effect on the cloud evolution is generally not negligible.

scholarly journals The development of magnetic field line wander by plasma turbulence

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory G. Howes ◽  
Sofiane Bourouaine
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Magnetic Field Line ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Plasma Turbulence ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Astrophysical Plasmas ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Plasma turbulence occurs ubiquitously in space and astrophysical plasmas, mediating the nonlinear transfer of energy from large-scale electromagnetic fields and plasma flows to small scales at which the energy may be ultimately converted to plasma heat. But plasma turbulence also generically leads to a tangling of the magnetic field that threads through the plasma. The resulting wander of the magnetic field lines may significantly impact a number of important physical processes, including the propagation of cosmic rays and energetic particles, confinement in magnetic fusion devices and the fundamental processes of turbulence, magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration. The various potential impacts of magnetic field line wander are reviewed in detail, and a number of important theoretical considerations are identified that may influence the development and saturation of magnetic field line wander in astrophysical plasma turbulence. The results of nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence of sub-ion length scales are evaluated to understand the development and saturation of the turbulent magnetic energy spectrum and of the magnetic field line wander. It is found that turbulent space and astrophysical plasmas are generally expected to contain a stochastic magnetic field due to the tangling of the field by strong plasma turbulence. Future work will explore how the saturated magnetic field line wander varies as a function of the amplitude of the plasma turbulence and the ratio of the thermal to magnetic pressure, known as the plasma beta.

scholarly journals Mapping of steady-state electric fields and convective drifts in geomagnetic fields – Part 1: Elementary models

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. M. Walker ◽  
G. J. Sofko
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Magnetic Field Line ◽  
Geomagnetic Field ◽  
Geomagnetic Field Models ◽  
Spatial Derivatives ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. When studying magnetospheric convection, it is often necessary to map the steady-state electric field, measured at some point on a magnetic field line, to a magnetically conjugate point in the other hemisphere, or the equatorial plane, or at the position of a satellite. Such mapping is relatively easy in a dipole field although the appropriate formulae are not easily accessible. They are derived and reviewed here with some examples. It is not possible to derive such formulae in more realistic geomagnetic field models. A new method is described in this paper for accurate mapping of electric fields along field lines, which can be used for any field model in which the magnetic field and its spatial derivatives can be computed. From the spatial derivatives of the magnetic field three first order differential equations are derived for the components of the normalized element of separation of two closely spaced field lines. These can be integrated along with the magnetic field tracing equations and Faraday's law used to obtain the electric field as a function of distance measured along the magnetic field line. The method is tested in a simple model consisting of a dipole field plus a magnetotail model. The method is shown to be accurate, convenient, and suitable for use with more realistic geomagnetic field models.

scholarly journals Cusp-like plasma in high altitudes: a statistical study of the width and location of the cusp from Magion-4

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mĕrka ◽  
J. Šafránková ◽  
Z. Nĕmeček
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
High Altitudes ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Latitudinal Dependence ◽  
Merging Process ◽  
Low Altitude ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Dipole Tilt

Abstract. The width of the cusp region is an indicator of the strength of the merging process and the degree of opening of the magnetosphere. During three years, the Magion-4 satellite, as part of the Interball project, has collected a unique data set of cusp-like plasma observations in middle and high altitudes. For a comparison of high- and low-altitude cusp determination, we map our observations of cusp-like plasma along the magnetic field lines down to the Earth’s surface. We use the Tsyganenko and Stern 1996 model of the magnetospheric magnetic field for the mapping, taking actual solar wind and IMF parameters from the Wind observations. The footprint positions show substantial latitudinal dependence on the dipole tilt angle. We fit this dependence with a linear function and subtract this function from observed cusp position. This process allows us to study both statistical width and location of the inspected region as a function of the solar wind and IMF parameters. Our processing of the Magion-4 measurements shows that high-altitude regions occupied by the cusp-like plasma (cusp and cleft) are projected onto a much broader area (in magnetic local time as well as in a latitude) than that determined in low altitudes. The trends of the shift of the cusp position with changes in the IMF direction established by low-altitude observations have been confirmed.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp and boundary layer; solar wind – magnetosphere interactions)

scholarly journals Reversals in the large-scale αΩ-dynamo with memory

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. K. Feschenko ◽  
G. M. Vodinchar
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Geomagnetic Field ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Polarity ◽  
Power Law Model ◽  
The Real ◽  
Geomagnetic Polarity ◽  
With Memory ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. Inversion of the magnetic field in a model of large-scale αΩ-dynamo with α-effect with stochastic memory is under investigation. The model allows us to reproduce the main features of the geomagnetic field reversals. It was established that the polarity intervals in the model are distributed according to the power law. Model magnetic polarity timescale is fractal. Its dimension is consistent with the dimension of the real geomagnetic polarity timescale.

scholarly journals Magnetotaxis as a Means for Nanofabrication

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 1450008
Author(s):  
Isaac Macwan ◽  
Zihe Zhao ◽  
Omar Sobh ◽  
Jinnque Rho ◽  
Ausif Mahmood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Geomagnetic Field ◽  
Semiconductor Manufacturing ◽  
Magnetic Field Intensity ◽  
Magnetotactic Bacteria ◽  
Semiconductor Substrate ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Magnetospirillum Magneticum ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB), discovered in early 1970s contain single-domain crystals of magnetite ( Fe 3 O 4) called magnetosomes that tend to form a chain like structure from the proximal to the distal pole along the long axis of the cell. The ability of these bacteria to sense the magnetic field for displacement, also called magnetotaxis, arises from the magnetic dipole moment of this chain of magnetosomes. In aquatic habitats, these organisms sense the geomagnetic field and traverse the oxic-anoxic interface for optimal oxygen concentration along the field lines. Here we report an elegant use of MTB where magnetotaxis of Magnetospirillum magneticum (classified as AMB-1) could be utilized for controlled navigation over a semiconductor substrate for selective deposition. We examined 50mm long coils made out of 18AWG and 20AWG copper conductors having diameters of 5mm, 10mm and 20mm for magnetic field intensity and heat generation. Based on the COMSOL simulations and experimental data, it is recognized that a compound semiconductor manufacturing technology involving bacterial carriers and carbon-based materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes would be a desirable choice in the future.

scholarly journals Magnetic field configuration and field-aligned acceleration of energetic ions during substorm onsets

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1089-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Korth ◽  
Z. Y. Pu
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Field Configuration ◽  
Local Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics ◽  
Night Side ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
Synchronous Orbit ◽  
Substorm Onsets

Abstract. In this paper, we present an interpretation of the observed field-aligned acceleration events measured by GEOS-2 near the night-side synchronous orbit at substorm onsets (Chen et al., 2000). We show that field-aligned acceleration of ions (with pitch angle asymmetry) is closely related to strong short-lived electric fields in the Ey direction. The acceleration is associated with either rapid dipolarization or further stretching of local magnetic field lines. Theoretical analysis suggests that a centrifugal mechanism is a likely candidate for the parallel energization. Equatorward or anti-equatorward energization occurs when the tail current sheet is thinner tailward or earthward of the spacecraft, respectively. The magnetic field topology leading to anti-equatorward energization corresponds to a situation where the near-Earth tail undergoes further compression and the inner edge of the plasma sheet extends inwards as close as the night-side geosynchronous altitudes.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetospheric configuration and dynamics; plasma sheet; storms and sub-storms)

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