On the existence of compressional MHD oscillations in an inhomogeneous magnetoplasma

1990 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew N. Wright

In a cold plasma the wave equation for solely compressional magnetic field perturbations appears to decouple in any surface orthogonal to the background magnetic field. However, the compressional fields in any two of these surfaces are related to each other by the condition that the perturbation field b be divergence-free. Hence the wave equations in these surfaces are not truly decoupled from one another. If the two solutions happen to be ‘matched’ (i.e. V.b = 0) then the medium may execute a solely compressional oscillation. If the two solutions are unmatched then transverse fields must evolve. We consider two classes of compressional solutions and derive a set of criteria for when the medium will be able to support pure compressional field oscillations. These criteria relate to the geometry of the magnetic field and the plasma density distribution. We present the conditions in such a manner that it is easy to see if a given magnetoplasma is able to executive either of the compressional solutions we investigate.

2019 ◽  
Vol 629 ◽  
pp. A22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan J. Hofmeister ◽  
Dominik Utz ◽  
Stephan G. Heinemann ◽  
Astrid Veronig ◽  
Manuela Temmer

In this study, we investigate in detail the photospheric magnetic structure of 98 coronal holes using line-of-sight magnetograms of SDO/HMI, and for a subset of 42 coronal holes using HINODE/SOT G-band filtergrams. We divided the magnetic field maps into magnetic elements and quiet coronal hole regions by applying a threshold at ±25 G. We find that the number of magnetic bright points in magnetic elements is well correlated with the area of the magnetic elements (cc = 0.83 ± 0.01). Further, the magnetic flux of the individual magnetic elements inside coronal holes is related to their area by a power law with an exponent of 1.261 ± 0.004 (cc = 0.984 ± 0.001). Relating the magnetic elements to the overall structure of coronal holes, we find that on average (69 ± 8)% of the overall unbalanced magnetic flux of the coronal holes arises from long-lived magnetic elements with lifetimes > 40 h. About (22 ± 4)% of the unbalanced magnetic flux arises from a very weak background magnetic field in the quiet coronal hole regions with a mean magnetic field density of about 0.2−1.2 G. This background magnetic field is correlated to the flux of the magnetic elements with lifetimes of > 40 h (cc = 0.88 ± 0.02). The remaining flux arises from magnetic elements with lifetimes < 40 h. By relating the properties of the magnetic elements to the overall properties of the coronal holes, we find that the unbalanced magnetic flux of the coronal holes is completely determined by the total area that the long-lived magnetic elements cover (cc = 0.994 ± 0.001).


2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 981-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. A. POKHOTELOV ◽  
O.G. ONISHCHENKO ◽  
M. A. BALIKHIN ◽  
L. STENFLO ◽  
P. K. SHUKLA

AbstractThe nonlinear theory of large-amplitude magnetosonic (MS) waves in highβ space plasmas is revisited. It is shown that solitary waves can exist in the form of ‘bright’ or ‘dark’ solitons in which the magnetic field is increased or decreased relative to the background magnetic field. This depends on the shape of the equilibrium ion distribution function. The basic parameter that controls the nonlinear structure is the wave dispersion, which can be either positive or negative. A general dispersion relation for MS waves propagating perpendicularly to the external magnetic field in a plasma with an arbitrary velocity distribution function is derived.It takes into account general plasma equilibria, such as the Dory–Guest–Harris (DGH) or Kennel–Ashour-Abdalla (KA) loss-cone equilibria, as well as distributions with a power-law velocity dependence that can be modelled by κdistributions. It is shown that in a bi-Maxwellian plasma the dispersion is negative, i.e. the phase velocity decreases with an increase of the wavenumber. This means that the solitary solution in this case has the form of a ‘bright’ soliton with the magnetic field increased. On the contrary, in some non-Maxwellian plasmas, such as those with ring-type ion distributions or DGH plasmas, the solitary solution may have the form of a magnetic hole. The results of similar investigations based on nonlinear Hall–MHD equations are reviewed. The relevance of our theoretical results to existing satellite wave observations is outlined.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Karlsson ◽  
Lina Hadid ◽  
Michiko Morooka ◽  
Jan-Erik Wahlund

&lt;p&gt;We present the first Cassini observations of magnetic holes on the near-Saturn solar wind and magnetosheath, based on data from the MAG magnetometer. We conclude that magnetic holes (defined as isolated decreases of at least 50% compared to the background magnetic field strength) are common in both regions. We present statistical properties of the magnetic holes, including scale size, depth of the magnetic field reduction, orientation, change in magnetic field direction over the holes, and solar cycle dependence. For magnetosheath magnetic holes, also high-time resolution density measurements from the LP Langmuir probe are available, allowing us to study the anti-correlation of density and magnetic field strength in the magnetic holes. We compare to recent results from MESSENGER observations from Mercury orbit, and finally discuss the possible importance of magnetic holes in solar wind-magnetosphere interaction at Saturn.&lt;/p&gt;


2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 014014 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Sakakibara ◽  
Y Suzuki ◽  
Y Narushima ◽  
K Y Watanabe ◽  
Y Takemura ◽  
...  

1989 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Diver ◽  
E. W. Laing ◽  
C. C. Sellar

We have studied wave propagation in a cold plasma, in the presence of a spatially rotating magnetic field of constant magnitude. New features introduced by this variation include streaming velocities and a plasma current in equilibrium and density fluctuations. We present only the case of wave propagation along the axis of rotation of the magnetic field. A set of ordinary differential equations for the electric field components is obtained, which may be combined into a single fourth-order ordinary differential equation with periodic coefficients. Solutions are obtained in closed form and their nature is determined in terms of the physical parameters of the System, magnetic field strength, number density and wave frequency.


2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. A9 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Horbury ◽  
H. O’Brien ◽  
I. Carrasco Blazquez ◽  
M. Bendyk ◽  
P. Brown ◽  
...  

The magnetometer instrument on the Solar Orbiter mission is designed to measure the magnetic field local to the spacecraft continuously for the entire mission duration. The need to characterise not only the background magnetic field but also its variations on scales from far above to well below the proton gyroscale result in challenging requirements on stability, precision, and noise, as well as magnetic and operational limitations on both the spacecraft and other instruments. The challenging vibration and thermal environment has led to significant development of the mechanical sensor design. The overall instrument design, performance, data products, and operational strategy are described.


1968 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 215-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. I. Mogilevsky ◽  
L. B. Demkina ◽  
B. A. Ioshpa ◽  
V. N. Obridko

The model of the magnetic field of sunspots, taking account of fine structure of magnetic field in solar plasma, is considered. Small-scale subgranules with their own field form magnetic filaments in the external current-free field. The filaments are vertical in the umbra, while in the penumbra they run along the surface with sharp bends. In a number of spot umbra the relation between Doppler velocity and the field is established on polarized spectrograms. The π-component splitting in umbra is interpreted as a result of a weak background magnetic-field existence together with a large field of magnetic filaments. Spectrographic definition of the magnetic field in spot umbra is accomplished on the effect of magnetic-lines intensification and directly on spectrograms of low-excitation (Fe I, Ti I) and high-excitation (Fe II) lines. Magnetic field measured in low-excitation lines exceeds twice the field value obtained in high-excitation lines. This result has been considered in the light of the proposed model of sunspot field.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuanpeng Hou ◽  
Xingyu Zhu ◽  
Rui Zhuo ◽  
Jiansen He

&lt;p&gt;Parker Solar Probe&amp;#8217;s (PSP) observations near the sun show the extensive presence of magnetic field kinks (switchback for large kinks) in the slow solar wind. These kinks are usually accompanied by the enhancement of radial solar wind velocity and ion temperature, increasing or decreasing of number density. The magnetic field kinks have also been observed by WIND and Ulysses to exist near and beyond 1 AU, respectively. In this study, we statistically analyze the property difference of magnetic field kinks observed by PSP and WIND. We obtain the following four points of results. (1) Inside the PSP-kinks, the radial velocity and protons&amp;#8217; temperature increase while density shows enhancement or descent. However, inside the WIND-kinks, besides the slight enhancement of radial velocity, the density and temperature show no obvious change compared with the outside plasma. (2) By employing the Walen-test of kinks, we find that, R components of some PSP-kinks but not all satisfy the rotational discontinuity (RD) features, while the three components of most WIND-kinks well match the RD features. (3) The correlation between magnetic field and velocity inside the PSP-kinks and WIND-kinks does not show significant differences. (4) Both the PSP-kinks and WIND-kinks can be divided into two groups based on the histograms of &amp;#952;&lt;sub&gt;Bn&lt;/sub&gt;, where B is the background magnetic field, and n is the normal direction of kink. The first group (group-I) has &amp;#952;&lt;sub&gt;Bn&lt;/sub&gt; concentrating around 20&amp;#176; for PSP-kinks and 30&amp;#176; for WIND-kinks, indicating that the satellites were crossing the same kinked interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) from the upstream to the downstream. The second group (group-II) has &amp;#952;&lt;sub&gt;Bn&lt;/sub&gt; concentrating around 90&amp;#176; for PSP-kinks and WIND-kinks, suggesting that the satellites were crossing an interface between the unkinked and kinked IMF regions. Our findings help better understanding the nature of kinks and provide the observational basis for testifying models about radial propagation and evolution of magnetic field kinks.&lt;/p&gt;


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