Open AccessA model of electromagnetic electron phase‐space holes and its application
Author(s) -
Tao J. B.,
Ergun R. E.,
Andersson L.,
Bonnell J. W.,
Roux A.,
LeContel O.,
Angelopoulos V.,
McFadden J. P.,
Larson D. E.,
Cully C. M.,
Auster H.U.,
Glassmeier K.H.,
Baumjohann W.,
Newman D. L.,
Goldman M. V.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2010ja016054
Subject(s) - physics , electron , phase space , phase (matter) , computational physics , lorentz transformation , space (punctuation) , test particle , nonlinear system , electromagnetic radiation , plasma , electromagnetic field , classical mechanics , optics , quantum mechanics , computer science , operating system
Electron phase‐space holes (EHs) are indicators of nonlinear activities in space plasmas. Most often they are observed as electrostatic signals, but recently Andersson et al. [2009] reported electromagnetic EHs observed by the THEMIS mission in the Earth's plasma sheet. As a follow‐up to Andersson et al. [2009], this paper presents a model of electromagnetic EHs where the δ E × B 0 drift of electrons creates a net current. The model is examined with test‐particle simulations and compared to the electromagnetic EHs reported by Andersson et al. [2009]. As an application of the model, we introduce a more accurate method than the simplified Lorentz transformation of Andersson et al. [2009] to derive EH velocity ( v EH ). The sizes and potentials of EHs are derived from v EH , so an accurate derivation of v EH is important in analyzing EHs. In general, our results are qualitatively consistent with those of Andersson et al. [2009] but generally with smaller velocities and sizes.