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Alfvénon, driven reconnection and the direct generation of the field‐aligned current
Author(s) -
Song Yan,
Lysak Robert L.
Publication year - 1994
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 - 10.1029/94gl01327
Subject(s) - magnetopause , physics , magnetosphere , magnetic reconnection , magnetohydrodynamics , solar wind , geophysics , alfvén wave , computational physics , plasma , mechanics , quantum mechanics
The patchy and intermittent nature of the solar wind‐magnetosphere interaction suggests that MHD mesoscale processes are important in the description of transport at the magnetopause. In order to deal with the nonlinear electromagnetic interaction of localized fluctuations in a highly inhomogeneous region such as the magnetopause, a quasi‐particle description involving compressional and shear Alfvénons is introduced to give the particle‐like behavior of the corresponding MHD waves. The driven nature of the solar wind‐magnetosphere interaction, and in particular driven reconnection, is discussed in terms of the interactions between these Alfvénons, and between Alfvénons and the ambient magnetic field. The dependence of the threshold conditions for the onset of the driven reconnection on the IMF and the dynamic pressure of the solar wind is calculated by analyzing the generation and interaction of the Alfvénons. The conversion of compressional Alfvénons into shear Alfvénons gives a mechanism for the direct generation of field‐aligned current filaments.