On the horizontal currents over the Martian magnetic cusp

Author(s):  
Tariq Majeed ◽  
Shahad Al Mutawa ◽  
Omar Al Aryani ◽  
Stephan Bougher ◽  
Syed Haider

<p>Localized crustal magnetization over heavily cratered southern hemisphere at Mars gives rise to open magnetic field configurations which interact with the solar wind magnetic field to form magnetic cusps.  The downward acceleration of energetic electrons in these cusps can produce aurora and an extended topside ionospheric structure over regions of magnetic anomalies.  We report plasma collisions with the neutral atmosphere at one of the Martian cusps located at 82<sup>o</sup>S and 108<sup>o</sup>E, where the crustal field is strong with a radial component ~30<sup>o</sup> from the local zenith.  We find that the dynamo region in the upper ionosphere of Mars is located between altitudes of 102 km and 210 km. The electrons in this region are constrained to gyrate along magnetic field lines while ions are dragged by neutrals and move along the direction of applied force.  In the absence of the electric field, the horizontal current in the Martian dynamo is generated by the differential motion of ions and electrons.  We find that the bulk of the current density is equatorward and confined within the Martian dynamo near the ionospheric peak with a magnitude of ~3.5 µA/m<sup>2</sup>.  We also find that the westward current density of magnitude ~0.4 µA/m<sup>2</sup> peaking near the upper boundary of the Martian dynamo is generated by magnetized ions in the -<strong>F</strong> x <strong>B</strong> direction.  The model details and results in comparison with other studies will be presented.        </p>

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Elder ◽  
Allen H. Boozer

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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Gu Yoo ◽  
Weixing Wang ◽  
Edward A Startsev ◽  
Chenhao Ma ◽  
S Ethier ◽  
...  

1993 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 415-419
Author(s):  
D. Breitschwerdt ◽  
H.J. Völk ◽  
V. Ptuskin ◽  
V. Zirakashvili

It is argued that the description of the magnetic field in halos of galaxies should take into account its dynamical coupling to the other major components of the interstellar medium, namely thermal plasma and cosmic rays (CR's). It is then inevitable to have some loss of gas and CR's (galactic wind) provided that there exist some “open” magnetic field lines, facilitating their escape, and a sufficient level of self-generated waves which couple the particles to the gas. We discuss qualitatively the topology of the magnetic field in the halo and show how galactic rotation and magnetic forces can be included in such an outflow picture.


1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 674-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliezer Hameiri

1980 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 363-368
Author(s):  
Monique G. Aubier

When studying the propagation of accelerated electrons outwards in the corona, we have shown that the perpendicular momentum of the electrons remaining after the type I process is transformed into parallel momentum during the propagation along the decreasing magnetic field, and that type III emission can occur when the parallel velocity component reaches a critical value. With this model we explain in particular the low frequency cut-off of type I emission, the characteristics of the type III bursts near their starting frequency and the transition between type III- and type I-like decameter emission observed in few cases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S354) ◽  
pp. 228-231
Author(s):  
Chia-Hsien Lin ◽  
Guan-Han Huang ◽  
Lou-Chuang Lee

AbstractCoronal holes can be identified as the darkest regions in EUV or soft X-ray images with predominantly unipolar magnetic fields (LIRs) or as the regions with open magnetic fields (OMF). Our study reveals that only 12% of OMF regions are coincident with LIRs. The aim of this study is to investigate the conditions that affect the EUV intensity of OMF regions. Our results indicate that the EUV intensity and the magnetic field expansion factor of the OMF regions are weakly positively correlated when plotted in logarithmic scale, and that the bright OMF regions are likely to locate inside or next to the regions with closed field lines. We empirically determined a linear relationship between the expansion factor and the EUV intensity. The relationship is demonstrated to improve the consistency from 12% to 23%. The results have been published in Astrophysical Journal (Huang et al. 2019).


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Slapak ◽  
H. Nilsson ◽  
L. G. Westerberg ◽  
R. Larsson

Abstract. Recent studies have shown that the escape of oxygen ions (O+) into the magnetosheath along open magnetic field lines from the terrestrial cusp and mantle is significant. We present a study of how O+ transport in the dayside magnetosheath depends on the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction. There are clear asymmetries in the O+ flows for southward and northward IMF. The asymmetries can be understood in terms of the different magnetic topologies that arise due to differences in the location of the reconnection site, which depends on the IMF direction. During southward IMF, most of the observed magnetosheath O+ is transported downstream. In contrast, for northward IMF we observe O+ flowing both downstream and equatorward towards the opposite hemisphere. We observe evidence of dual-lobe reconnection occasionally taking place during strong northward IMF conditions, a mechanism that may trap O+ and bring it back into the magnetosphere. Its effect on the overall escape is however small: we estimate the upper limit of trapped O+ to be 5%, a small number considering that ion flux calculations are rough estimates. The total O+ escape flux is higher by about a factor of 2 during times of southward IMF, in agreement with earlier studies of O+ cusp outflow.


1997 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 692-692
Author(s):  
John Contopoulos ◽  
Arieh Königl

AbstractCentrifugally driven winds from the surfaces of magnetized accretion disks are a leading candidate for the origin of bipolar outflows and have also been recognized as an attractive mechanism for removing the angular momentum of the accreted matter. The origin of the open magnetic field lines that thread the disk in this scenario is, however, still uncertain. One possibility is that the field lines are transported through the disk, but previous studies have shown that this process is inefficient in disks with turbulent viscosity and diffusivity. Here we examine whether the efficiency can be increased if angular momentum is transported from the disk surfaces by large-scale magnetic fields instead of radially by viscous stresses. In this picture, the removal of angular momentum is associated with the establishment of a global poloidal electric current driven by the radial EMF in the disc, and it does not necessarily need to involve super-Alfvénic outflows. We address this problem in the context of protostellar systems and present representative solutions of the time evolution of a resistive disk that is initially threaded by a uniform vertical field anchored at a large distance from its surfaces. We assume that the angular momentum transport in the disk is controlled by the large-scale magnetic field and take into account the influence of the field on the disk structure.


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