Premium
The structure of a tangential discontinuity: Application to the cometary ionopause
Author(s) -
Flammer K. R.,
Omidi N.,
Quest K. B.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/90gl02207
Subject(s) - physics , ion , gyroradius , plasma , discontinuity (linguistics) , atomic physics , kinetic energy , electron , computational physics , classical mechanics , nuclear physics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , quantum mechanics
The kinetic structure of a tangential discontinuity interface separating an outflowing unmagnetized plasma from an inflowing, magnetized plasma is studied using 1‐D hybrid simulations (particle ions and fluid electrons). By including the effects of an ion‐neutral collisional force and plasma loss due to recombination, we conclude that two scale lengths control the structure of the cometary ionopause. The first is related to the ion Larmor radius of the outflowing ions which encounter the magnetic barrier, and the second is related to the balance between the ion‐neutral collisional force and the electromagnetic J × B force.