Plasmas in Saturn's magnetosphere

The solar wind plasma analyzer on board Pioneer 2 provides first observations of low-energy positive ions in the magnetosphere of Saturn. Measurable intensities of ions within the energy-per-unit charge (E/Q) range 100 eV to 8 keV are present over the planetocentric radial distance range about 4 to 16 R sub S in the dayside magnetosphere. The plasmas are found to be rigidly corotating with the planet out to distances of at least 10 R sub S. At radial distances beyond 10 R sub S, the bulk flows appear to be in the corotation direction but with lesser speeds than those expected from rigid corotation. At radial distances beyond the orbit of Rhea at 8.8 R sub S, the dominant ions are most likely protons and the corresponding typical densities and temperatures are 0.5/cu cm and 1,000,000 K, respectively, with substantial fluctuations. It is concluded that the most likely source of these plasmas in the photodissociation of water frost on the surface of the ring material with subsequent ionization of the products and radially outward diffusion. The presence of this plasma torus is expected to have a large influence on the dynamics of Saturn's magnetosphere since the pressure ratio beta of these plasmas approaches unity at radial distances as close to the planet as 6.5 R sub S. On the basis of these observational evidences it is anticipated that quasi-periodic outward flows of plasma, accompanied with a reconfiguration of the magnetosphere beyond about 6.5 R sub S, will occur in the local night sector in order to relieve the plasma pressure from accretion of plasma from the rings

Fluid Induced Particle Size Segregation in Sheared Granular Assemblies

We perform a two-dimensional molecular-dynamics study of a model for sheared bidisperse granular systems under conditions of simple shear and Poiseuille flow. We propose a mechanism for particle-size segregation based on the observation that segregation occurs if the viscous length scale introduced by a liquid in the system is smaller than of the order of the particle size. We show that the ratio of shear rate to viscosity must be small if one wants to find size segregation. In this case the particles in the system arrange themselves in bands of big and small particles oriented along the direction of the flow. Similarly, in Poiseuille flow we find the formation of particle bands. Here, in addition, the variety of time scales in the flow leads to an aggregation of particles in the zones of low shear rate and can suppress size segregation in these regions. The results have been verified against simulations using a full Navier-Stokes description for the liquid.Comment: 11 pages, REVTEX format, ps figures compressed uuencoded separately or by e-mail from [email protected]. A postscript version of the paper will be available from http://www.ica1.uni-stuttgart.de/local/WWW/papers/papers.htm

Brownian Dynamics Simulation of Polydisperse Hard Spheres

Standard algorithms for the numerical integration of the Langevin equation require that interactions are slowly varying during to the integration timestep. This in not the case for hard-body systems, where there is no clearcut between the correlation time of the noise and the timescale of the interactions. Starting from a short time approximation of the Smoluchowsky equation, we introduce an algorithm for the simulation of the overdamped Brownian dynamics of polydisperse hard-spheres in absence of hydrodynamics interactions and briefly discuss the extension to the case of external drifts

Shear-banding in a lyotropic lamellar phase, Part 1: Time-averaged velocity profiles

Using velocity profile measurements based on dynamic light scattering and coupled to structural and rheological measurements in a Couette cell, we present evidences for a shear-banding scenario in the shear flow of the onion texture of a lyotropic lamellar phase. Time-averaged measurements clearly show the presence of structural shear-banding in the vicinity of a shear-induced transition, associated to the nucleation and growth of a highly sheared band in the flow. Our experiments also reveal the presence of slip at the walls of the Couette cell. Using a simple mechanical approach, we demonstrate that our data confirms the classical assumption of the shear-banding picture, in which the interface between bands lies at a given stress $\sigma^\star$. We also outline the presence of large temporal fluctuations of the flow field, which are the subject of the second part of this paper [Salmon {\it et al.}, submitted to Phys. Rev. E]

Ion velocity distributions in the vicinity of the current sheet in Earth's distant magnetotail

Observations of the three-dimensional velocity distributions of positive ions and electrons have been recently gained for the first time in Earth's distant magnetotail with the Galileo and Geotail spacecraft. For this brief discussion of these exciting results the focus is on the overall character of the ion velocity distributions during substorm activity. The ion velocity distributions within and near the magnetotail current sheet are not accurately described as convecting, isotropic Maxwellians. The observed velocity distributions are characterized by at least two robust types. The first type is similar to the 'lima bean'-shaped velocity distributions that are expected from the nonadiabatic acceleration of ions which execute Speiser-type trajectories in the current sheet. The second distribution is associated with the presence of cold ion beams that presumably also arise from the acceleration of plasma mantle ions in the electric and weak magnetic fields in the current sheet. The ion velocity distributions in a magnetic field structure that is similar to that for plasmoids are also examined. Again the velocity distributions are not Maxwellian but are indicative of nonadiabatic acceleration. An example of the pressure tensor within the plasmoid-like event is also presented because it is anticipated that the off-diagonal elements are important in a description of magnetotail dynamics. Thus our concept of magnetotail dynamics must advance from the present assumption of co-moving electron and ion Maxwellian distributions into reformulations in terms of global kinematical models and nonadiabatic particle motion

Shear-banding in a lyotropic lamellar phase, Part 2: Temporal fluctuations

We analyze the temporal fluctuations of the flow field associated to a shear-induced transition in a lyotropic lamellar phase: the layering transition of the onion texture. In the first part of this work [Salmon et al., submitted to Phys. Rev. E], we have evidenced banded flows at the onset of this shear-induced transition which are well accounted for by the classical picture of shear-banding. In the present paper, we focus on the temporal fluctuations of the flow field recorded in the coexistence domain. These striking dynamics are very slow (100--1000s) and cannot be due to external mechanical noise. Using velocimetry coupled to structural measurements, we show that these fluctuations are due to a motion of the interface separating the two differently sheared bands. Such a motion seems to be governed by the fluctuations of $\sigma^\star$, the local stress at the interface between the two bands. Our results thus provide more evidence for the relevance of the classical mechanical approach of shear-banding even if the mechanism leading to the fluctuations of $\sigma^\star$ remains unclear

Nonequilibrium Steady States of Driven Periodic Media

We study a periodic medium driven over a random or periodic substrate. Our work is based on nonequilibrium continuum hydrodynamic equations of motion, which we derive microscopically. We argue that in the random case instabilities will always destroy the LRO of the lattice. In most, if not all, cases, the stable driven ordered state is a transverse smectic, with ordering wavevector perpendicular to the velocity. It consists of a periodic array of flowing liquid channels, with transverse displacements and density (``permeation mode'') as hydrodynamic variables. We present dynamic functional renormalization group calculations in two and three dimensions for an approximate model of the smectic. The finite temperature behavior is much less glassy than in equilibrium, owing to a disorder-driven effective ``heating'' (allowed by the absence of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem). This, in conjunction with the permeation mode, leads to a fundamentally analytic transverse response for $T>0$. Our results are compared to recent experiments and other theoretical work.Comment: 39 PRB pages, RevTex and 9 postscript figures, uses multicol.st

Pressure balance at the magnetopause: Experimental studies

The pressure balance at the magnetopause is formed by magnetic field and plasma in the magnetosheath, on one side, and inside the magnetosphere, on the other side. In the approach of dipole earth's magnetic field configuration and gas-dynamics solar wind flowing around the magnetosphere, the pressure balance predicts that the magnetopause distance R depends on solar wind dynamic pressure Pd as a power low R ~ Pd^alpha, where the exponent alpha=-1/6. In the real magnetosphere the magnetic filed is contributed by additional sources: Chapman-Ferraro current system, field-aligned currents, tail current, and storm-time ring current. Net contribution of those sources depends on particular magnetospheric region and varies with solar wind conditions and geomagnetic activity. As a result, the parameters of pressure balance, including power index alpha, depend on both the local position at the magnetopause and geomagnetic activity. In addition, the pressure balance can be affected by a non-linear transfer of the solar wind energy to the magnetosheath, especially for quasi-radial regime of the subsolar bow shock formation proper for the interplanetary magnetic field vector aligned with the solar wind plasma flow.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Prospectus, November 27, 1985

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1985/1028/thumbnail.jp

Novel Phases and Reentrant Melting of Two Dimensional Colloidal Crystals

We investigate two-dimensional (2d) melting in the presence of a one-dimensional (1d) periodic potential as, for example, realized in recent experiments on 2d colloids subjected to two interfering laser beams. The topology of the phase diagram is found to depend primarily on two factors: the relative orientation of the 2d crystal and the periodic potential troughs, which select a set of Bragg planes running parallel to the troughs, and the commensurability ratio p= a'/d of the spacing a' between these Bragg planes to the period d of the periodic potential. The complexity of the phase diagram increases with the magnitude of the commensurabilty ratio p. Rich phase diagram, with ``modulated liquid'', ``floating'' and ``locked floating'' solid and smectic phases are found. Phase transitions between these phases fall into two broad universality classes, roughening and melting, driven by the proliferation of discommensuration walls and dislocations, respectively. We discuss correlation functions and the static structure factor in these phases and make detailed predictions of the universal features close to the phase boundaries. We predict that for charged systems with highly screened short-range interactions these melting transitions are generically reentrant as a function of the strength of the periodic potential, prediction that is in accord with recent 2d colloid experiments. Implications of our results for future experiments are also discussed.Comment: 37 pages, 24 figure