3,645 research outputs found
Magnetic field configuration and field-aligned acceleration of energetic ions during substorm onsets
International audienceIn this paper, we present an interpretation of the observed field-aligned acceleration events measured by GEOS-2 near the night-side synchronous orbit at substorm onsets (Chen et al., 2000). We show that field-aligned acceleration of ions (with pitch angle asymmetry) is closely related to strong short-lived electric fields in the Ey direction. The acceleration is associated with either rapid dipolarization or further stretching of local magnetic field lines. Theoretical analysis suggests that a centrifugal mechanism is a likely candidate for the parallel energization. Equatorward or anti-equatorward energization occurs when the tail current sheet is thinner tailward or earthward of the spacecraft, respectively. The magnetic field topology leading to anti-equatorward energization corresponds to a situation where the near-Earth tail undergoes further compression and the inner edge of the plasma sheet extends inwards as close as the night-side geosynchronous altitudes
Density oscillations in trapped dipolar condensates
We investigated the ground state wave function and free expansion of a
trapped dipolar condensate. We find that dipolar interaction may induce both
biconcave and dumbbell density profiles in, respectively, the pancake- and
cigar-shaped traps. On the parameter plane of the interaction strengths, the
density oscillation occurs only when the interaction parameters fall into
certain isolated areas. The relation between the positions of these areas and
the trap geometry is explored. By studying the free expansion of the condensate
with density oscillation, we show that the density oscillation is detectable
from the time-of-flight image.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
Interactions of energetic electrons with ULF waves triggered by interplanetary shock: Van Allen Probes observations in the magnetotail
Abstract We present in situ observations of a shock-induced substorm-like event on 13 April 2013 observed by the newly launched Van Allen twin probes. Substorm-like electron injections with energy of 30-500 keV were observed in the region from L∼5.2 to 5.5 immediately after the shock arrival (followed by energetic electron drift echoes). Meanwhile, the electron flux was clearly and strongly varying on the ULF wave time scale. It is found that both toroidal and poloidal mode ULF waves with a period of 150 s emerged following the magnetotail magnetic field reconfiguration after the interplanetary (IP) shock passage. The poloidal mode is more intense than the toroidal mode. The 90 phase shift between the poloidal mode Br and Ea suggests the standing poloidal waves in the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, the energetic electron flux modulations indicate that the azimuthal wave number is ∼14. Direct evidence of drift resonance between the injected electrons and the excited poloidal ULF wave has been obtained. The resonant energy is estimated to be between 150 keV and 230 keV. Two possible scenaria on ULF wave triggering are discussed: vortex-like flow structure-driven field line resonance and ULF wave growth through drift resonance. It is found that the IP shock may trigger intense ULF wave and energetic electron behavior at L∼3 to 6 on the nightside, while the time profile of the wave is different from dayside cases
Energetic ion injection and formation of the storm-time symmetric ring current
An extensive study of ring current injection and intensification of the storm-time ring current is conducted with three-dimensional (3-D) test particle trajectory calculations (TPTCs). The TPTCs reveal more accurately the process of ring current injection, with the main results being the following: (1) an intense convection electric field can effectively energize and inject plasma sheet particles into the ring current region within 1–3 h. (2) Injected ions often follow chaotic trajectories in non-adiabatic regions, which may have implications in storm and ring current physics. (3) The shielding electric field, which arises as a consequence of enhanced convection and co-exists with the injection and convection electric field, may cause the original open trajectories of injected ions with higher energy to change into closed ones, thus playing a role in the formation of the symmetric ring current
Exact solution of gyration radius of individual's trajectory for a simplified human mobility model
Gyration radius of individual's trajectory plays a key role in quantifying
human mobility patterns. Of particular interests, empirical analyses suggest
that the growth of gyration radius is slow versus time except the very early
stage and may eventually arrive to a steady value. However, up to now, the
underlying mechanism leading to such a possibly steady value has not been well
understood. In this Letter, we propose a simplified human mobility model to
simulate individual's daily travel with three sequential activities: commuting
to workplace, going to do leisure activities and returning home. With the
assumption that individual has constant travel speed and inferior limit of time
at home and work, we prove that the daily moving area of an individual is an
ellipse, and finally get an exact solution of the gyration radius. The
analytical solution well captures the empirical observation reported in [M. C.
Gonz`alez et al., Nature, 453 (2008) 779]. We also find that, in spite of the
heterogeneous displacement distribution in the population level, individuals in
our model have characteristic displacements, indicating a completely different
mechanism to the one proposed by Song et al. [Nat. Phys. 6 (2010) 818].Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The cusp: a window for particle exchange between the radiation belt and the solar wind
International audienceThe study focuses on a single particle dynamics in the cusp region. The topology of the cusp region in terms of magnetic field iso-B contours has been studied using the Tsyganenko 96 model (T96) as an example, to show the importance of an off-equatorial minimum on particle trapping. We carry out test particle simulations to demonstrate the bounce and drift motion. The "cusp trapping limit" concept is introduced to reflect the particle motion in the high latitude magnetospheric region. The spatial distribution of the "cusp trapping limit" shows that only those particles with near 90° pitch-angles can be trapped and drift around the cusp. Those with smaller pitch angles may be partly trapped in the iso-B contours, however, they will eventually escape along one of the magnetic field lines. There exist both open field lines and closed ones within the same drift orbit, indicating two possible destinations of these particles: those particles being lost along open field lines will be connected to the surface of the magnetopause and the solar wind, while those along closed ones will enter the equatorial radiation belt. Thus, it is believed that the cusp region can provide a window for particle exchange between these two regions. Some of the factors, such as dipole tilt angle, magnetospheric convection, IMF and the Birkeland current system, may influence the cusp's trapping capability and therefore affect the particle exchanging mechanism. Their roles are examined by both the analysis of cusp magnetic topology and test particle simulations
Multiple Triangulation Analysis: another approach to determine the orientation of magnetic flux ropes
Another approach (Multiple Triangulation Analysis, MTA) is presented to determine the orientation of magnetic flux rope, based on 4-point measurements. A 2-D flux rope model is used to examine the accuracy of the MTA technique in a theoretical way. It is found that the precision of the estimated orientation is dependent on both the spacecraft separation and the constellation path relative to the flux rope structure. However, the MTA error range can be shown to be smaller than that of the traditional MVA technique. As an application to real Cluster data, several flux rope events on 26 January 2001 are analyzed using MTA, to obtain their orientations. The results are compared with the ones obtained by several other methods which also yield flux rope orientation. The estimated axis orientations are shown to be fairly close, suggesting the reliability of the MTA method
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