scholarly journals Compressional wave events in the dawn plasma sheet observed by Interball-1

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 1145-1154 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Verkhoglyadova ◽  
A. Agapitov ◽  
A. Andrushchenko ◽  
V. Ivchenko ◽  
S. Romanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Inhomogeneous Plasma ◽  
Partial Solution ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Background Magnetic Field ◽  
Phase Variations

Abstract. Compressional waves with periods greater than 2 min (about 10-30 min) at low geomagnetic latitudes, namely compressional Pc5 waves, are studied. The data set obtained with magnetometer MIF-M and plasma analyzer instrument CORALL on board the Interball-1 are analyzed. Measurements performed in October 1995 and October 1996 in the dawn plasma sheet at -30 RE ≤ XGSM and |ZGSM| ≤ 10 RE are considered. Anti-phase variations of magnetic field and ion plasma pressures are analyzed by searching for morphological similarities in the two time series. It is found that longitudinal and transverse magnetic field variations with respect to the background magnetic field are of the same order of magnitude. Plasma velocities are processed for each time period of the local dissimilarity in the pressure time series. Velocity disturbances occur mainly transversely to the local field line. The data reveal the rotation of the velocity vector. Because of the field line curvature, there is no fixed position of the rotational plane in the space. These vortices are localized in the regions of anti-phase variations of the magnetic field and plasma pressures, and the vortical flows are associated with the compressional Pc5 wave process. A theoretical model is proposed to explain the main features of the nonlinear wave processes. Our main goal is to study coupling of drift Alfven wave and magnetosonic wave in a warm inhomogeneous plasma. A vortex is the partial solution of the set of the equations when the compression is neglected. A compression effect gives rise to a nonlinear soliton-like solution.Key words. Magnetosphere physics (magnetotail) · Space plasma physics (kinetic and MHD theory; non-linear phenomena)

Parametric excitation of magnetoacoustic waves by a pump magnetic field in a high-β plasma

1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. F. Cramer
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Parametric Excitation ◽  
Acoustic Waves ◽  
Magnetic Pressure ◽  
Gas Pressure ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Fast Wave ◽  
Magnetoacoustic Waves ◽  
Background Magnetic Field ◽  
The Waves

The parametric excitation of slow, intermediate (Alfvén) and fast magneto-acoustic waves by a modulated spatially non-uniform magnetic field in a plasma with a finite ratio of gas pressure to magnetic pressure is considered. The waves are excited in pairs, either pairs of the same mode, or a pair of different modes. The growth rates of the instabilities are calculated and compared with the known result for the Alfvén wave in a zero gas pressure plasma. The only waves that are found not to be excited are the slow plus fast wave pair, and the intermediate plus slow or fast wave pair (unless the waves have a component of propagation direction perpendicular to both the background magnetic field and the direction of non-uniformity of the field).

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 The current sheet flapping motions induced by non-adiabatic ions: case study

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhua Wei ◽  
Chunlin Cai ◽  
Henri Rème ◽  
Iannis Dandouras ◽  
George Parks
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Magnetic Field Line ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Plasma Sources ◽  
Shear Structures ◽  
Particle Population ◽  
Alternating Bending

Abstract. In this paper, we analyzed the y-component of magnetic field line curvature in the plasma sheet and found that there are two kinds of shear structures of the flapping current sheet, i.e. symmetric and antisymmetric. The alternating bending orientations of guiding field are exactly corresponding to alternating north-south asymmetries of the bouncing ion population in the sheet center. Those alternating asymmetric plasma sources consequently induce the current sheet flapping motion as a driver. In addition, a substantial particle population with dawnward motion was observed in the center of a bifurcated current sheet. This population is identified as the quasi-adiabatic particles, and provides a net current opposite to the conventional cross-tail current.

Solitary Alfvén waveguide structures in a magnetized plasma

1980 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Sheerin ◽  
R. S. B. Ong
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solitary Wave ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Magnetic Field Line ◽  
Axial Symmetry ◽  
Wave Structure ◽  
Magnetized Plasma ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Wave Forms ◽  
The Magnetic Field

A nonlinear Alfvén wave structure with axial symmetry about the line of force of an ambient magnetic field is presented. The solitary wave forms a ‘ring’ shaped waveguide along the magnetic field line.

scholarly journals Large-scale fluctuations of PSBL magnetic flux tubes induced by the field-aligned motion of highly accelerated ions

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1273-1288 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. Grigorenko ◽  
T. M. Burinskaya ◽  
M. Shevelev ◽  
J.-A. Sauvaud ◽  
L. M. Zelenyi
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Main Magnetic Field ◽  
Sudden Increase ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Flux Tubes ◽  
Magnetic Flux Tubes

Abstract. We present a comprehensive analysis of magnetic field and plasma data measured in the course of 170 crossings of the lobeward edge of Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer (PSBL) in the Earth's magnetotail by Cluster spacecraft. We found that large-scale fluctuations of the magnetic flux tubes have been registered during intervals of propagation of high velocity field-aligned ions. The observed kink-like oscillations propagate earthward along the main magnetic field with phase velocities of the order of local Alfvén velocity and have typical wavelengths ~5–20 RE, and frequencies of the order of 0.004–0.02 Hz. The oscillations of PSBL magnetic flux tubes are manifested also in a sudden increase of drift velocity of cold lobe ions streaming tailward. Since in the majority of PSBL crossings in our data set, the densities of currents corresponding to electron-ion relative drift have been low, the investigation of Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability in a bounded flow sandwiched between the plasma sheet and the lobe has been performed to analyze its relevance to generation of the observed ultra-low frequency oscillations with wavelengths much larger than the flow width. The calculations have shown that, when plasma conditions are favorable for the excitation of K-H instability at least at one of the flow boundaries, kink-like ultra-low frequency waves, resembling the experimentally observed ones, could become unstable and efficiently develop in the system.

Discovery of Alfven waves planetward of the Rings of Saturn

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Southwood ◽  
Hao Cao ◽  
Greg Hunt ◽  
Oleg Shebanits ◽  
Michele Dougherty
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Giant Planet ◽  
Effective Field ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Azimuthal Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line Resonances ◽  
Background Magnetic Field ◽  
Standing Structure ◽  
Orbiter Mission

<p>Between April and September 2017 in the final stages of the Cassini Saturn Orbiter mission the spacecraft executed 22 orbits passing planetward of the innermost ring, the D-ring.  During periapsis passes on all these orbits oscillations were detected in the azimuthal magnetic field components on typical time scales from a few minutes to 10 minutes. We argue that the time-varying signals detected on the spacecraft are also primarily time-varying in the plasma frame.  Nonetheless, we show that nearly all signals exhibit a distinct spatial effect, namely a magnetic node near the effective field line equator.  The oscillations thus have a standing structure along the background magnetic field and it follows that they are field line resonances associated with Alfvén waves.  The form of the signals suggests that the local field line resonances are most likely pumped from global sources.  This is the first detection in a giant planet magnetosphere of a phenomenon known to be important at Earth.</p>

scholarly journals Average characteristics of the midtail plasma sheet in different dynamic regimes of the magnetosphere

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 2107-2113 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. P. Dmitrieva ◽  
V. A. Sergeev ◽  
M. A. Shukhtina
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Growth Phase ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Transfer Rate ◽  
Flux Transport ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Magnetospheric Convection ◽  
Flux Transfer ◽  
Night Flux

Abstract. We study average characteristics of plasma sheet convection in the middle tail during different magnetospheric states (Steady Magnetospheric Convection, SMC, and substorms) using simultaneous magnetotail (Geotail, 15-35 RE downtail) and solar wind (Wind spacecraft) observations during 3.5 years. (1) A large data set allowed us to obtain the average values of the plasma sheet magnetic flux transfer rate (Ey and directly compare it with the dayside transfer rate (Emod for different magnetospheric states. The results confirm the magnetic flux imbalance model suggested by Russell and McPherron (1973), namely: during SMC periods the day-to-night flux transport rate equals the global Earthward plasma sheet convection; during the substorm growth phase the plasma sheet convection is suppressed on the average by 40%, whereas during the substorm expansion phase it twice exceeds the day-to-night global flux transfer rate. (2) Different types of substorms were revealed. About 1/3 of all substorms considered displayed very weak growth in the tail lobe magnetic field before the onset. For these events the plasma sheet transport was found to be in a balance with the day-to-night flux transfer, as in the SMC events. However, the lobe magnetic field value in these cases was as large as that in the substorms with a classic growth phase just before the onset (both values exceed the average level of the lobe field during the SMC). Also, in both groups similar configurational changes (magnetic field stretching and plasma sheet thinning) were observed before the substorm onset. (3) Superimposed epoch analysis showed that the plasma sheet during the late substorm recovery phase has the characteristics similar to those found during SMC events, the SMC could be a natural magnetospheric state following the substorm.

Temporal Alfvén wave echoes in an inhomogeneous plasma

1984 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. C. Rae
Keyword(s):  
Surface Wave ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Inhomogeneous Plasma ◽  
Nonlinear Effects ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Surface Phase ◽  
Initial Pulse ◽  
External Current ◽  
First Order ◽  
Resonance Surface

If an external current pulse is applied to a diffuse plasma sheet pinch, surface wave modes are generated, which decay by collisionless damping, leaving only oscillations of the Alfvén continuum along the Alfvén resonance surface. The transverse perturbations within this surface phase-mix to zero. It is shown that perturbations induced by an initial pulse are modulated by a (later applied) second pulse of different wavelength, to yield non-vanishing second-order transverse perturbations, even though the first-order transverse perturbations have phase-mixed to zero. This analysis shows the importance of nonlinear effects in the evolution of inhomogeneous magnetohydrodynamic motions.

scholarly journals On the Origin of ULF Magnetic Waves Before the Taiwan Chi-Chi 1999 Earthquake

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Anagnostopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Solar Rotation ◽  
Rotation Period ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Ulf Waves ◽  
Storm Activity ◽  
Data Set

The ultra low frequency (ULF) electromagnetic (EM) wave activity usually recorded on Earth’s ground has been found to depend on various types of space weather. In addition ULF waves observed before an earthquake have been hypothesized to be a result of geotectonic processes. In this study we elaborate for the first time the origin of sub-ULF (<1 msec) magnetic field waves before an earthquake (Chi-Chi/Taiwan, 20.9.1999) by comparing simultaneously obtained measurements in the interplanetary space (ACE satellite) and on the Earth’s ground (Taiwan). The most striking result of our data analysis, during a period of 7 weeks, is that the detection of four groups of sub-ULF waves in Taiwan coincide in time with the quasi-periodic detection of two solar wind streams by the satellite ACE with approximately the solar rotation period (∼28 days). The high speed solar wind streams (HSSs) in the interplanetary space were accompanied by sub-ULF Alfvén wave activity, quasi-periodic southward IMF and solar wind density perturbations, which are known as triggering agents of magnetic storm activity. The four HSSs were followed by long lasting decreases in the magnetic field in Taiwan. The whole data set examined in this study strongly suggest that the subULF magnetic field waves observed in Taiwan before the Chi-Chi 1999 earthquake is a normal consequence of the incident of HSSs to the magnetosphere. We provide some observational evidence that the sub-ULF electromagnetic radiation on the Earth was most probably a partner to (not a result of) geotectonic processes preparing the Taiwan 1999 earthquake.

Parametric instabilities of circularly polarized large-amplitude dispersive Alfvén waves: excitation of parallel-propagating electromagnetic daughter waves

1991 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo F. Viñas ◽  
Melvyn L. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Large Amplitude ◽  
Wave Amplitude ◽  
Pump Wave ◽  
Modulational Instability ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Circularly Polarized ◽  
Background Magnetic Field ◽  
Electromagnetic Instability

We investigate the parametric decay and modulational instabilities of a large-amplitude circularly polarized dispersive Alfvén wave. Our treatment is more general than that of previous derivations based on the two-fluid equations in that we allow for propagation of the unstable daughter waves at arbitrary angles to the background magnetic field, although our main concern in this paper is the exploration of new aspects of propagation parallel to the DC magnetic field. In addition to the well-known coupling of pump waves to electrostatic daughter waves, we find a new parametric channel where the pump wave couples directly to electromagnetic daughter waves. Excitation of the electromagnetic instability occurs only for modulation (k/k0 ≤ 1) and not for decay (k/k0 < 1). In contrast with the modulational instability excited by the electrostatic coupling, the electromagnetic modulational instability exists for both left-hand (K > 0) and right-hand (K < 0) polarization. For large k/k0, the electromagnetic channel dominates, while at lower values the electrostatic channel has a larger growth rate for modest values of dispersion, pump-wave amplitude and plasma β. Unlike the electrostatic modulational instability, the growth rate of the electromagnetic instability increases monotonically with increasing pump wave amplitude. This analysis confirms that, for decay, the dominant process is coupling to electrostatic daughter waves, at least for parallel propagation. For modulation, the coupling to electromagnetic daughter waves usually dominates, suggesting that the parametric modulational instability is really an electromagnetic phenomenon.

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