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Monte Carlo Simulation of charged particles upstream of the Earth's bow shock
Author(s) -
Ellison Donald C.
Publication year - 1981
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/gl008i009p00991
Subject(s) - monte carlo method , bow shock (aerodynamics) , physics , solar wind , shock (circulatory) , computational physics , bow wave , ion , diffusion , upstream (networking) , shock wave , plane (geometry) , plasma , spectral line , mechanics , astronomy , nuclear physics , geometry , thermodynamics , medicine , computer network , statistics , mathematics , computer science , quantum mechanics
A Monte Carlo simulation of a plane, parallel shock is used to model the observations of ‘diffuse’ ions upstream of the earth's bow shock. Spectra from solar wind to high energies are calculated for various forms of the diffusion coefficient and escape and an upper limit to the efficiency obtained. These results suggest that astrophysical shocks are capable of accelerating ions directly from the thermal plasma without need of a distinct pre‐energizing injection stage.