Generation of hiss beyond plasmapause by magnetosonic waves

Magnetosonic waves near the harmonics of proton cyclotron frequency can become unstable in the presence of oxygen ions in the ring current. For cos θ = 0 (θ being the angle between the wave vector and the geomagnetic field) the growth rates are peaked at some optimum value of the oxygen ion density, whereas for cos θ ≠ 0 they are reduced with the increase of oxygen ion density. The presence of hot oxygen ions can generate instability near the harmonics of oxygen cyclotron frequency. The growth rates are enhanced with the increase of cos θ. This mechanism can generate discrete spectrum of ELF hiss beyond the plasmapause.     

Coincident observations of ionospheric troughs and the equatorial plasmapause

Explorer 45 traversed the plasmapause (determined approximately via the saturation of the d.c. electric field experiment) at near-equatorial latitudes on field lines which were crossed by Ariel 4 (~600km altitude) near dusk in May 1972 and on field lines which were crossed by Isis II (~1400km altitude) near midnight in December 1971 and January 1972. Many examples were found in which the field line through the near-equatorial plasmapause was traversed by Explorer 45 within one hour local time and one hour universal time of Ariel and Isis crossings of the same L coordinate. For the coincident passes near dusk, the RF electron density probe on Ariel detected electron density depletions near the plasmapause L coordinates when Ariel was in darkness. When the Ariel passes were in sunlight, however, electron depletions were not discernable near the plasmapause field line. On the selected near-midnight passes of Isis II, electron density depressions were typically detected (via the topside sounder) near the plasmapause L coordinate. The dusk Ariel electron density profiles are observed to reflect O⁺ density variations. Even at the high altitude of Isis near midnight, O⁺ is found to be the dominant ion in the trough region whereas H⁺ is dominant at lower latitudes as is evident from the measured electron density scale heights. In neither local time sector was it possible to single out a distinctive topside ionosphere feature as an indicator of the plasmapause field line as identified near the equator. At both local times the equator-determined plasmapause L coordinate showed a tendency to lay equatorward of the trough minimum.     

Narrow-band 5 kHz hiss observed in the vicinity of the plasmapause

Latitudinal distributions of narrow-band 5 kHz hisses have been statistically obtained by using VLF electric field data received from the ISIS-1 and -2 at Syowa station, Antartica and Kashima station, Japan, in order to study an origin of the narrow-band 5 kHz hisses which are often observed on the ground in mid- and low-latitudes. The result shows that the narrow-band 5 kHz hiss occurs most frequently at geomagnetically invariant latitudes from 55° to 63°, that are roughly the plasmapause latitudes at various geomagnetic activities, both in the northern and southern hemispheres.The narrow-band 5 kHz hiss seems to be generated by the cyclotron instabilities of several keV to a few ten keV electrons for the most feasible electron density of 10 cm^?3?10³ cm^?3 in the vicinity of the equatorial plasmapause since the hotter electrons with energy of 10–100 keV are dominant just outside the plasmapause. This will be the origin of the narrow-band 5 kHz hiss observed frequently in mid- and low-latitudes.     

A whistler study of plasmapause motion in the vicinity of sanae,Antarctica

For 4 months of synoptic records whistlers have been analyzed in two groups, high latitude (HL) whistlers with f_n?8 kHz and low latitude (LL) whistlers with f_n?8 kHz. A decrease in percentage occurrence of HL whistlers with increasing K_p is interpreted as being due to equatorwards movement of the plasmapause in the vicinity of SANAE, Antarctica (L=4). The diurnal variation in HL and LL whistler occurrence reveals an average behaviour of the plasmapause, namely, an equatorwards movement beginning at around 2000 LT followed by a return movement from 0400 LT to 0800 LT.     

Standing slow magnetosonic waves in a dipole-like plasmasphere

A problem of the structure and spectrum of standing slow magnetosonic waves in a dipole plasmasphere is solved. Both an analytical (in WKB approximation) and numerical solutions are found to the problem, for a distribution of the plasma parameters typical of the Earth's plasmasphere. The solutions allow us to treat the total electronic content oscillations registered above Japan as oscillations of one of the first harmonics of standing slow magnetosonic waves. Near the ionosphere the main components of the field of registered standing SMS waves are the plasma oscillations along magnetic field lines, plasma concentration oscillation and the related oscillations of the gas-kinetic pressure. The velocity of the plasma oscillations increases dramatically near the ionospheric conductive layer, which should result in precipitation of the background plasma particles. This may be accompanied by ionospheric F2 region airglows modulated with the periods of standing slow magnetosonic waves.     

Thermal protons in the morning magnetosphere: Filling and heating near the equatorial plasmapause

Thermal H⁺ distributions have been measured as the European Space Agency GEOS-1 satellite passed through the late morning equatorial magnetosphere, plasmapause and plasmasphere. The unique capabilities of the on-board Supralhermal Plasma Analysers (SPA) have been used to overcome the retarding floating potential of the satellite and measure the velocity distribution of the cold protons. In the magnetosphere an enhanced source cone of such ions with a temperature of ~ 0.5 eV is a signature of the filling process occurring outside the plasmapause where flux tubes are relatively empty. In the plasmasphere the thermal H⁺ is essentially isotropic with a temperature less than 0.5 eV but the motion of the satellite introduces apparent drift.These measurements of cold proton velocity distribution now permit a reappraisal of the definition of the “plasmapause”. It becomes inappropriate to use an arbitrary empirical density, e.g. the conventional 10 cm ^?3, in order to establish a boundary. It is now possible to identify a plasmapause interaction region where the two cold proton populations co-exist. This region generally lies Earthward of the 10 cm ^?3 density level, has a width which is strongly dependent on magnetic activity and the temperature is typically between 0.5 and 1.5 eV. The change from “filled” to “unfilled” flux tubes relates to the physical processes which are occurring and the controlling electric field configuration; in particular, the last closed equipotential. Throughout this region, in going from the plasmasphere to the magnetosphere, the plasma drift motion is expected to change from corotation to a convection which is controlled by E ×B, and is predominantly Sunward due to the dawn-dusk electric field. Crossing the plasmapause on the morning side, little change in drift direction should occur but subtle variations in the ionic velocity distribution do reflect the change in the degree of flux tube density equilibrium.Our first direct measurement of the magnetospheric E × B drift has been reported previously but here measurements from a selected six day period show how the plasma in the plasmapause region responds to changing magnetospheric activity. The drift velocities cannot he derived with high accuracy but the analysis shows that the technique can provide a valid mapping of the magnelospheric electric field. In addition, since the magnetospheric cold plasma distribution is observed after it has come from the ionosphere, a distance of many Earth radii, the scattering and accelerating mechanisms along the flux tube can be studied. For this particular data-set taken in the late morning, the maximum potential drops along the flux tubes were less than a volt. The ionospheric proton source cone is observed to be broad, pitch angle scattering persists up to 40 or even 70°.Although these results throw new light on the plasmaspheric filling process one must recognise that, however the plasmapause is defined, it is not a simple matter to map this boundary from the equatorial plane down to low altitudes and the mid-latitude trough.     

On phase and ray directions of magnetosonic waves

The behavior of phase speed for the slow and fast magnetosonic waves is well documented in the literature. Not so well documented is the behavior of the ray direction and its relation to the phase direction — indeed we have not found the ray behavior recorded in most of the standard plasma physics texts. We rectify this situation and point out some of the curiosities associated with the direction of the slow ray relative to the direction of the slow phase wave. These calculations have been performed as a necessary basis for discussion of phase and ray evolution of magnetosonic waves in differentially shearing plasmas, which subject is the topic of a later paper.     

Generation of magnetosonic waves and formation of structures in galaxies

We study the generation of magnetosonic waves in galactic gaseous discs taking account of the magnetic field, differential rotation and self-gravity. The special case of perturbations is considered with the wavevector perpendicular to the magnetic field. The necessary condition of the amplification of seed perturbations is the presence of differential rotation and non-vanishing radial component of the magnetic field that can easily be satisfied in galactic discs. Differential rotation stretches the azimuthal field from the radial one and, therefore, we consider the generation of waves on the time-dependent background magnetic field. Basically, an amplification is rather efficient, and seed perturbations become non-linear already after several rotation periods for a wide range of wavelength. The generated magnetosonic waves can be either non-oscillatory or oscillatory depending on the parameters of gas. If perturbations are Jeans stable, then typically non-oscillatory waves are amplified. However, interplay between self-gravity, magnetic field and rotational shear can change qualitatively the classical Jeans instability, so that the latter becomes oscillatory and tends to be suppressed in galaxies.     

Radiation belt electron acceleration induced by gyroresonant interaction with magnetosonic waves

Using Cluster 4 satellite data, we examine activities of fast magnetosonic (MS) waves in the outer radiation belt near the location L=4.2 on 28 May 2005. We adopt a Gaussian distribution to fit the observed power spectral density of MS waves and find the fitting wave strength to be 245 pT. We then calculate the bounce-averaged diffusion coefficients and show that these diffusion coefficients are pronounced within a region of pitch angles about 25°–70°. By solving a 2D Fokker-Planck diffusion equation, we simulate the dynamic evolution of the electron phase space density (PSD), and demonstrate that significant increases in electron PSDs at energies of MeVs occur mainly within the aforementioned pitch-angle range over a time scale of several hours. The current results suggest that the interaction between MS waves and electrons could be an important mechanism of electron acceleration in the radiation belt.     

Dispersion relation for magnetosonic waves within the upper atmospheric plasma

The dispersion relation for magnetosonic waves within the upper atmospheric plasma has been derived. The result can be used to study the variation of the longitudinal and transverse component of velocities.     

3He enrichments by magnetosonic waves in current-driven instabilities

A theoretical model for³He enrichments in solar energetic particles is developed. First, current-driven, electrostatic instabilities that have frequencies ( is the cyclotron frequency of³He) are investigated for a plasma consisting of H,⁴He,³He, and electrons with the density of³He much lower than those of H and⁴He. It is found that in many cases the oblique ion-acoustic waves can have positive growth rates at frequencies and, at the same time, negative growth rates at and at _H. This can occur near the marginal state of the instability. The wave damping at these frequencies is caused by the cyclotron resonances of⁴He and H. The cyclotron damping at is negligible, however, because the abundance of³He is very small. The H cyclotron waves can be unstable at for a wide region of plasma parameters; the electron-to-ion temperature ratio must beT _e /T _H 1.5. To destabilize the₄He cyclotron waves with , high⁴He density and high electron temperature are both required. Then,³He enrichments are studied on the basis of the theory of nonlinear magnetosonic waves, which can promptly accelerate ions. The current-driven electrostatic waves with can enhance fluctuation velocities of³He. Thus, in the presence of these waves, magnetosonic waves can selectively accelerate³He particles to high energies. Finally, cyclotron resonances of heavy ions with the waves or are briefly discussed.     

Nonlinearly coupled electromagnetic ion-cyclotron and magnetosonic waves in astrophysical plasmas

A set of three nonlinearly coupled equations governing the interaction between electromagnetic ion-cyclotron and magnetosonic waves is derived. In appropriate limiting cases, the set yields simplified equations. On the other hand, the full set of equations is used to derive a general dispersion relation for the parametric interaction of electromagnetically modulated ion-cyclotron wave packets. An analytical expression for the growth rate of the electromagnetic modulational instability is presented. The relevance of our investigation to non-thermal electromagnetic fluctuations in astrophysical and cometary plasmas is pointed out.     

On waveguide propagation of Alfvén waves at the plasmapause

A study is made of the influence of cool dispersion (due to ion inertia) upon the propagation of Alfvén waves in the magnetosphere. It is shown that the Alfvén velocity minimum elongated along the magnetic field, may act as a waveguide. Some waveguiding properties of the plasmapause are investigated and relevant eigen-modes determined. The possibility of interpreting geomagnetic pulsations of various types as eigen-oscillations of the waveguide at the plasmapause, is discussed.     

Modulational instability of fast magnetosonic waves in a solar plasma

Transverse amplitude modulations of fast magnetosonic waves propagating perpendicular to the background magnetic field are shown to be unstable on a time scale τ ～- λ_∥/V _aφ, if the wave amplitude φ exceeds a critical value, φ _c = C _s/V _a. The slow modes generated by the modulational instability under gravity can propagate along the magnetic field with the characteristic velocity, V _ph = g/2k _∥ V _aφ. The applications of this modulational instability and slow-mode generation mechanism to a solar plasma are discussed.     

Peculiarities of entropy and magnetosonic waves in optically thin cosmic plasma

The stability problem for small magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) perturbations in an optically thin, perfectly conducting uniform plasma with a cosmic abundance of elements is solved in the linear approximation. The electron heat conduction along the magnetic field and the proton heat conduction across the field are taken into account. We have shown for the first time that the entropy waves can grow exponentially, while the magnetosonic waves are damped in a wide range of physical conditions closest to the conditions in stellar coronae with the proper allowance for radiative losses. Slow magnetosonic waves are damped particularly rapidly. For the solar corona, the calculated damping decrement of slow magnetosonic waves agrees well with the averaged one in 11 quasi-periodic events observed from the TRACE satellite in extreme ultraviolet radiation. Other possible astrophysical applications of the results obtained are briefly discussed.     

Interaction of particles with ion cyclotron waves and magnetosonic waves. Observations from GEOS 1 and GEOS 2

Coordinated observations involving ion composition, thermal plasma, energetic particle, and ULF magnetic field data from GEOS 1 and 2 often reveal the presence of electromagnetic ion cyclotron and magnetosonic waves, which are distinguished by their respective polarization characteristics and frequency spectra. The ion cyclotron waves are identified by a magnetic field perturbation that lies in a plane perpendicular to the Earth's magnetic field B₀ and propagate along B₀. They are associated with the abundance of cold He⁺ in the presence of anisotropic pitch angle distributions of ions having energies E > 20 keV, and were observed at frequencies near the He⁺ gyrofrequency. The magnetosonic waves are characterized by a magnetic field perturbation parallel to B₀ and thus seem to be propagating perpendicular to the Earth's magnetic field. They often occur at harmonics (not always including the fundamental) at the proton gyrofrequency and are associated with phase-space-density distributions that peak at energies E ～ 5–30 keV and at a pitch angle of 90°. Such a ring-like distribution is shown to excite instability in the magnetosonic mode near harmonics of the proton gyrofrequency. Magnetosonic waves are associated in other cases with sharp spatial gradients in energetic ion intensity. Such gradients are encountered in the early afternoon sector (as a consequence of the drift shell distortion caused by the convection electric field) and could likewise constitute a source of free energy for plasma instabilities.     

Formation of fast magnetosonic shock waves during a two-current-loop collision in solar flares

We present a numerical simulation of the fast magnetosonic shock wave formation during a two-current-loop collision by using a magnetohydrodynamical model. It is shown that the rarefaction waves are generated in the initial stage when the two current loops start to collide. After the rarefaction waves propagate away from the excited region, the fast magnetosonic waves with density enhancement can be produced for the simulation when the current strength of the loop is weak. As the current becomes strong enough, the magnetosonic shock waves can be generated in the direction perpendicular to that of the two-loop collision.     

Excitation of plasma waves in the ionosphere caused by atmospheric acoustic waves

The transformation of atmospheric acoustic waves into plasma waves in the ionosphere is investigated. The transformation mechanism is based on plasma wave exitation by growing acoustic waves, when a frequency/wavelength matching situation is reached. The interaction of acoustic and plasma waves occurs through collisions of neutral particles with ions. For the case of ion-sound waves, oscillations on ion cyclotron frequency and Alfvén waves is considered. A peculiarity of Alfvén waves is the wide frequency band which may be stimulated through wave-wave interaction.