Final Technical Report ''Double discontinuities in space plasma''

Whang, Yun Chow

Catholic University of America (United States)

关键词: Thickness High-Resolution Magnetic Field Data;    Hall-Mhd Theory;    Magnetotail;    Double Discontinuity;    Magnetic Fields;   

DOI  :  10.2172/823765
RP-ID  :  DOE/ER/54582-1
RP-ID  :  FG02-00ER54582
RP-ID  :  823765

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This research used high-resolution magnetic field data to examine the interior structures of MHD shocks in interplanetary space and in the magnetotail; we discovered that a slow-mode shock is often followed by an adjoining rotational discontinuity layer on the postshock side. The thickness of each layer is of the order of a few ion inertial lengths. Such a compound structure is known as a double discontinuity. When the magnetic field rotates by several degrees per ion inertial length inside a thin layer, the Hall current term becomes important in the generalized Ohm's law. Steady state solutions based on the Hall-MHD theory have been obtained to show the merging of a rotational layer and a slow shock layer to form a compound structure like the observed double discontinuities.