Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Similar Documents
Physics of boundaries and their interactions in space plasmas (Document No: 19980237977)
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Krauss-Varban, Dietmar Omidi, Nojan Karimabadi, Homayoun |
| Copyright Year | 1998 |
| Description | This final report describes a brief summary of our accomplishments during the complete contract period. Traditionally, due to computational limitations, it has been impossible to obtain a global view of the magnetosphere on ion time and spatial scales. As a result, kinetic simulations have concentrated on the local structure of different magnetospheric discontinuities and boundaries. However, due to the emergence of low cost desktop superconductors, as well as by taking full advantage of latest advances in data mining and visualization technology, we were able to bypass our planned (proposed) regional simulations and proceed to large-scale 3-D and 2-D global hybrid simulations of the magnetosphere. As a result, although we are only finishing the second year of the proposed activity, much of the original scientific objectives have been surpassed and new avenues of investigation have been opened. Such simulations have led us to possible explanations of some long-standing issues in magnetospheric physics. They have also enabled us to make a number of important discoveries/predictions, which need to be looked for in satellite data. Examples include: (1) the finding that the bow shock can become unstable to the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH;) (2) the discovery of a mechanism for intermittent reconnection due to ion physics which may be relevant to the explanation of the recurrence rate of flux transfer events (FTEs;) and (3) the finding that the current sheet in the near-Earth magnetotail region can become unstable to KH with detectable, unique ionospheric signatures. Further, we demonstrated a viable mechanism for the onset of reconnection at the magnetopause, examined the detailed structure of the boundary layer incorporating curvature effects, and provided an explanation for the large core fields observed within FTEs as well as flux ropes in the magnetotail. |
| File Size | 469329 |
| Page Count | 9 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19980237977 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t4jm76h6t |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 1998-05-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Plasma Physics Discontinuity Shock Waves Superconductors Materials Bow Waves Magnetopause Kelvin-helmholtz Instability Signatures Plasma Interactions Space Plasmas Boundary Layers Scientific Visualization Flux Transfer Events Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
