A mechanism for electrostatic solitary structures in the Earth's magnetosheath
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Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2009-09-24
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Citation of Original Publication
Lakhina, G. S., Singh, S. V., Kakad, A. P., Goldstein, M. L., Viñas, A. F., and Pickett, J. S. (2009), A mechanism for electrostatic solitary structures in the Earth's magnetosheath, J. Geophys. Res., 114, A09212, doi:10.1029/2009JA014306.
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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Public Domain Mark 1.0
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Abstract
Electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) have been observed in the Earth's magnetosheath region by Cluster. A mechanism for the generation of these structures in terms of electron-acoustic solitons and double layers is discussed. The model simulates the magnetosheath plasma by a four-component plasma system consisting of core electrons, two counterstreaming electron beams, and one type of ions. The analysis is based on the fluid equations and the Poisson equation, and employs the Sagdeev pseudopotential techniques to investigate the solitary waves. The electric field amplitudes, the time durations, and the propagation speeds of the solitary structures predicted by the model are in good agreement with the observed electric fields, pulse widths, and speeds of the electrostatic bipolar pulses.