Toward a General Theory of Local Preconditioning

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77390/1/AIAA-2002-2956-678.pd

Plasma Flow Past Cometary and Planetary Satellite Atmospheres. In

The tenuous atmospheres and ionospheres of comets and outer planet satellites share many common properties and features. Such similarities include a strong interaction with their outer radiation, fields and particles environs. For comets the interaction is with the magnetized solar wind plasma, whereas for satellites the interaction is with the strongly magnetized and corotating planetary magnetospheric plasma. For this reason there are many common or analogous physical regimes, and many of the same modeling techniques are used to interpret remote sensing and in situ measurements in order to study the important underlying physical phenomena responsible for their appearances. We present here a review of various modeling approaches which are used to elucidate the basic properties and processes shaping the energetics and dynamics of these systems which are similar in may respects

Origin of the interhemispheric potential mismatch of merging cells for interplanetary magnetic field B Y ‐dominated periods

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95141/1/jgra18727.pd

Two‐species, 3D, MHD simulation of Europa's interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95391/1/grl12120.pd

Dust–Gas Interrelations In Comets: Observations And Theory

The development of the expanding atmospherefrom the evaporating cometary nucleus has traditionallyfocused on observing and modeling the separatedevelopment of two distinct components, gas and dust,which are coupled dynamically with one another atdistances out to a few tens of cometary radii. In the lastdecade or so, however, direct evidence from observationsand suggestions from theory suggest that the dusty-gascoma is a tightly coupled system where material is transferredbetween the solid and gaseous phase as an importantintegral part of the basic development of the coma.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43256/1/11038_2004_Article_239224.pd

Dipole tilt effects on the magnetosphere‐ionosphere convection system during interplanetary magnetic field B Y ‐dominated periods: MHD modeling

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95426/1/jgra20334.pd

MHD simulation of magnetospheric interaction of planets and satellites.

We used magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) as a unifying approach to global modeling of the magnetospheric interaction of several planetary bodies: the Jovian satellite Io, the Kronian satellite Titan, and the planet Mercury. The equations of ideal MHD are solved numerically using a modern higher-order Godunov-type method. These interactions involve a number of different plasma flow regimes and different types of interactions as determined by the physical properties of the objects. Io and Titan have considerable atmospheres, but no significant internal magnetic field, while Mercury has a modest magnetic moment but lacks an atmosphere. We have used available data from the space missions Galileo, Voyager 1, and Mariner 10 to constrain our numerical models, and for most cases we were able to achieve a good agreement with the measurements. For Io, our model provides an estimate of the total mass-loading rate consistent with the available measurements. We have considered the mass-loading in two different approximations---one assuming a highly conducting path between the satellite and Jovian ionosphere and another one in the absence of such a path. Our comparison with the in situ data indicates the existence of a strong electro-magnetic connection between Io and Jupiter, which agrees with the HST observations of lo's footprint in Jovian ionosphere. Depending on the position of Titan along its orbit and on solar wind parameters, Titan may be either in the solar wind or in Kronian magnetosphere; in the latter case, two different regimes of interaction are possible. We have considered these three representative cases for Titan and analyzed in detail the structure of Titan's magnetic wake for the time of Voyager 1 flyby. For Mercury we have obtained a first global picture of the planet's interaction with the solar wind. We have found solar wind conditions at which the direct interaction of the solar wind plasma with Mercury should take place. Finally, we discuss the intrinsic limitations of MHD models and propose several future modifications to our model which will allow us to attain a more precise picture for the plasma environments of planets and satellites.Ph.D.Applied SciencesMechanicsPhysics, Atmospheric SciencePlasma physicsPure SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/132393/2/9963823.pd

Global MHD Simulations of Space Plasma Environments: Heliosphere, Comets, Magnetospheres of Planets and Satellites

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) provides an approximate description of agreat variety of processes in space physics. Accurate numericalsolutions of the MHD equations are still a challenge, but in the pastdecade a number of robust methods have appeared. Once these techniquesmade the direct solution of MHD equations feasible, a number of globalthree-dimensional models were designed and applied to many space physicsobjects. The range of these objects is truly astonishing, includingactive galactic nuclei, the heliosphere, the solar corona, and the solarwind interaction with planets, satellites, and comets. Outside the realmof space physics, MHD theory has been applied to such diverse problemsas laboratory plasmas and electromagnetic casting of liquid metals. In this paper we present a broad spectrum of models of different phenomena inspace science developed in the recent years at the University of Michigan.Although the physical systems addressed by these models are different,they all use the MHD equations as a unifying basis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41962/1/10509_2004_Article_272256.pd