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Hot flow anomaly formation by magnetic deflection
Author(s) -
Onsager T. G.,
Thomsen M. F.,
Winske D.
Publication year - 1990
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/gl017i010p01621
Subject(s) - solar wind , physics , ion , magnetosheath , ion beam , amplitude , deflection (physics) , magnetic field , population , plasma , bow wave , magnetohydrodynamics , geophysics , astrophysics , computational physics , atomic physics , magnetopause , optics , nuclear physics , demography , quantum mechanics , sociology
Hot Flow Anomalies (HFAs) are localized plasma structures observed in the solar wind and magnetosheath near the Earth's quasi‐parallel bow shock. We present 1‐D hybrid computer simulations illustrating a formation mechanism for HFAs in which the single, hot, ion population results from a spatial separation of two counterstreaming ion beams. The higher‐density, cooler regions are dominated by the background (solar wind) ions, and the lower‐density, hotter, internal regions are dominated by the beam ions. The spatial separation of the beam and background is caused by the deflection of the ions in large amplitude magnetic fields which are generated by ion/ion streaming instabilities.