Kinetic Alfven Waves and Plasma Transport associated with Magnetotail Fast Flows

Speaker: 
Yu Lin
Institution: 
Physics Department, Auburn University
Date: 
Monday, February 26, 2018
Time: 
11:00 am
Location: 
FRH 4179
Abstract:
Dynamics of the Earth’s magnetotail is simulated using the Auburn Global Hybrid Code in 3-D (ANGIE3D) for plasma kinetic physics with wave frequency up to ω ~ Ωi, where Ωi is the ion cyclotron frequency. The focus of this talk will be on the electromagnetic structure and propagation of shear Alfven waves/kinetic Alfven waves (KAWs) generated in the tail plasma sheet in association with the reconnection flux ropes and fast flows. The simulation shows that the fast flows and associated Alfvenic waves/field-aligned currents possess a short dawn-dusk extent. The flow braking region in front of the ring current is found to play an important role in the transport of Alfvenic waves into the dipole-like magnetic field of the inner magnetosphere and the ionosphere. Wave turbulence leads to strong perpendicular ion heating. Effects of the waves on the propagation of entropy-depleted bubbles of flux tubes and the global plasma transport are also discussed. Generation mechanism of KAWs is discussed with the help of hybrid simulations on the local scales.
Host: 
Franklin Dollar