Open AccessThree-dimensional magnetospheric equilibrium with isotropic pressure
Author(s) -
C. Z. Cheng
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/61213
Subject(s) - physics , toroid , isotropy , rotational symmetry , magnetic field , magnetic flux , flux (metallurgy) , cylindrical coordinate system , classical mechanics , magnetosphere , boundary (topology) , tokamak , mathematical analysis , geometry , mechanics , plasma , mathematics , quantum mechanics , materials science , metallurgy
In the absence of the toroidal flux, two coupled quasi two-dimensional elliptic equilibrium equations have been derived to describe self-consistent three-dimensional static magnetospheric equilibria with isotropic pressure in an optimal ({Psi},{alpha},{chi}) flux coordinate system, where {Psi} is the magnetic flux function, {chi} is a generalized poloidal angle, {alpha} is the toroidal angle, {alpha} = {phi} {minus} {delta}({Psi},{phi},{chi}) is the toroidal angle, {delta}({Psi},{phi},{chi}) is periodic in {phi}, and the magnetic field is represented as {rvec B} = {del}{Psi} {times} {del}{alpha}. A three-dimensional magnetospheric equilibrium code, the MAG-3D code, has been developed by employing an iterative metric method. The main difference between the three-dimensional and the two-dimensional axisymmetric solutions is that the field-aligned current and the toroidal magnetic field are finite for the three-dimensional case, but vanish for the two-dimensional axisymmetric case. With the same boundary flux surface shape, the two-dimensional axisymmetric results are similar to the three-dimensional magnetosphere at each local time cross section