The process of ion heating by a monochromatic obliquely propagating low-frequency Alfven wave is investigated. This process can be roughly divided into three stages: at first,the ions are picked up by the Alfven wave in several gyro-periods and a bulk velocity in the transverse direction is achieved; then, the ions are scattered in the transverse direction by the wave, which produces phase differences between the ions and leads to ion heating, especially in the perpendicular direction; and finally, the ions are stochastically heated due to the subcyclotron resonance. In this paper, with a test particle method, the efficiency and time scale of the ion stochastic heating by a monochromatic obliquely propagating low-frequency Alfven wave are studied. The results show that with the increase of the amplitude, frequency, and propagation angle of the Alfven wave, the efficiency of the ion stochastic heating increases, while the time scale of the ion stochastic heating decreases. With the increase of the plasma beta β, the ions are stochastically heated with less efficiency, and the time scale increases. We also investigate the heating of heavy ion species(He2+and O5+), which can be heated with a higher efficiency by the oblique Alfven wave.
With the measurements of magnetic field of Venus Express (VEX), magnetic coplanarity and minimum variance analysis (MVA) methods are analyzed and their validity is tested to determine the normal of Venusian bow shocks. It is found that MVA method is the better than magnetic coplanarity, and 95% shock crossings can be accurately determined by the method. However, the occurrence of the shock normal which is not determined accurately by magnetic coplanarity increases with the decrease of the solar zenith angle (SZA). At the same time, compared with quasi-parallel shocks, there is more occurrence of the shock normal which cannot be determined accurately by magnetic coplanarity for quasi-perpendicular shocks.
Previous electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations have pointed out that electron phase-space holes (electron holes) can be formed during the nonlinear evolution of the electron two-stream instability. The parallel cuts of the parallel and perpendicular electric field have bipolar and unipolar structures in these electron holes, respectively. In this study, two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetic PIC simulations are performed in the x y plane to investigate the evolution of the electron two-stream instability, with the emphasis on the magnetic structures associated with these electron holes in different plasma conditions. In the simulations, the background magnetic field (Bo= Boex ) is along the x direction. In weakly magnetized plasma (Ωe < ωpe , whereΩe and ωpe are the electron gyrofrequency and electron plasma frequency, respectively), several 2D electron holes are formed. In these 2D electron holes, the parallel cut of the fluctuating magnetic field δBx and δBz has unipolar structures, while the fluctuating magnetic field δB y has bipolar structures. In strongly magnetized plasma (Ωe > ωpe ), several quasi-1D electron holes are formed. The electrostatic whistler waves with streaked structures of E y are excited. The fluctuating magnetic field δB x and δBz also have streaked structures. The fluctuating magnetic field δBx and δB y are produced by the current in the z direction due to the electric field drift of the trapped electrons, while the fluctuating magnetic field δBz can be explained by the Lorentz transformation of a moving quasielectrostatic structure. The influences of the initial temperature anisotropy on the magnetic structures of the electron holes are also analyzed. The electromagnetic whistler waves are found to be excited in weakly magnetized plasma. However, they do not have any significant effects on the electrostatic structures of the electron holes.
Magnetic reconnection provides a physical mechanism for fast energy conversion from magnetic energy to plasma kinetic energy. It is closely associated with many explosive phenomena in space plasma, usually collisionless in character. For this reason, researchers have become more interested in collisionless magnetic reconnection. In this paper, the various roles of electron dynamics in collisionless magnetic reconnection are reviewed. First, at the ion inertial length scale, ions and electrons are decoupled. The resulting Hall effect determines the reconnection electric field. Moreover, electron motions determine the current system inside the reconnection plane and the electron density cavity along the separatrices. The current system in this plane produces an out-of-plane magnetic field. Second, at the electron inertial length scale, the anisotropy of electron pressure determines the magnitude of the reconnection electric field in this region. The production of energetic electrons, which is an important characteristic during magnetic reconnection, is accelerated by the reconnection electric field. In addition, the different topologies, temporal evolution and spatial distribution of the magnetic field affect the accelerating process of electrons and determine the final energy of the accelerated electrons. Third, we discuss results from simulations and spacecraft observations on the secondary magnetic islands produced due to secondary instabilities around the X point, and the associated energetic electrons. Furthermore, progress in laboratory plasma studies is also discussed in regard to electron dynamics during magnetic reconnection. Finally, some unresolved problems are presented.
LU QuanMingWANG RongShengXIE JinLinHUANG CanLU SanWANG Shui
Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed to investigate the formation of electron density depletions in collisionless magnetic reconnection.In anti-parallel reconnection,the quadrupole structures of the out-of-plane magnetic field are formed,and four symmetric electron density depletion layers can be found along the separatrices due to the effects of magetic mirror.With the increase of the initial guide field,the symmetry of both the out-of-plane magnetic field and electron density depletion layers is distorted.When the initial guide field is sufficiently large,the electron density depletion layers along the lower left and upper right separatrices disappear.The parallel electric field in guide field reconnection is found to play an important role in forming such structures of the electron density depletion layers.The structures of the out-of-plane magnetic field By and electron depletion layers in anti-parallel and guide field reconnection are found to be related to electron flow or in-plane currents in the separatrix regions.In anti-parallel reconnection,electrons flow towards the X line along the separatrices,and are directed away from the X line along the magnetic field lines just inside the separatrices.In guide field reconnection,electrons can only flow towards the X line along the upper left and lower right separatrices due to the existence of the parallel electric field in these regions.
LU SanLU QuanMingCAO YangHUANG CanXIE JinLinWANG Shui
We present initial results on the temporal evolution of the phase space density (PSD) of the outer radiation belt energetic electrons driven by the superluminous R-X mode waves. We calculate diffusion rates in pitch angle and momentum assuming the standard Gaussian distributions in both wave frequency and wave normal angle at the location L=6.5. We solve a 2D momentum-pitch-angle Fokker-Planck equation using those diffusion rates as inputs. Numerical results show that R-X mode can produce significant acceleration of relativistic electrons around geostationary orbit,supporting previous findings that superluminous waves potentially contribute to dramatic variation in the outer radiation belt electron dynamics.
XIAO FuLiang1,2, CHEN LiangXu1, HE YiHua1 & YANG Chang1 1 School of Physics and Electronic Sciences, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
