z-logo
Premium
Global structures of Alfvén‐ballooning modes in magnetospheric plasmas
Author(s) -
Vetoulis George,
Chen Liu
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 - 10.1029/94gl01703
Subject(s) - physics , ballooning , alfvén wave , plasma , earth's magnetic field , field line , coupling (piping) , beta (programming language) , azimuth , atomic physics , computational physics , magnetic field , quantum electrodynamics , magnetohydrodynamics , nuclear physics , tokamak , quantum mechanics , optics , computer science , engineering , mechanical engineering , programming language
We show that a steep plasma pressure gradient can lead to radially localized Alfvén modes, which are damped through coupling to field line resonances. These have been called drift Alfvén ballooning modes (DABM) by [ Chen and Hasegawa , 1991] and are the prime candidates to explain Pc4–Pc5 geomagnetic pulsations observed during the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms. A strong dependence of the damping rate on the azimuthal wave number m is established, as well as on the equilibrium profile. A minimum azimuthal mode number can be found for the DABM to be radially trapped. We find that higher m DABMs are better localized, which is consistent with high‐ m observations.

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here
Accelerating Research

Address

John Eccles House
Robert Robinson Avenue,
Oxford Science Park, Oxford
OX4 4GP, United Kingdom