Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 15, 2401053 (2020)

Regular Articles

Loss of the Rarefaction Wave during Plasma Sheet Thinning
Rudolf TRETLER, Tomo TATSUNO1) and Keisuke HOSOKAWA1)
Department of Communication Engineering and Informatics, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan
1)
Department of Computer and Network Engineering, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan
(Received 29 November 2019 / Accepted 8 June 2020 / Published 19 August 2020)

Abstract

A one-dimensional model for plasma sheet thinning [J. K. Chao et al., Planet. Space Sci. 25, 703 (1977)] according to the Current Disruption (CD) model of auroral breakup is extended to two dimensions. An initial disturbance generates a rarefaction wave. In the 1D model the rarefaction wave propagates tailward at sound velocity, which is regarded as a signature of the thinning. However, in the MHD simulation of the 2D model the rarefaction wave is quickly lost in the plasma sheet recompression, while the thinning continues propagating at a slower velocity. This shows that the dynamics of plasma sheet thinning may be dominated by sheet-lobe interactions that are absent from the 1D model.

Keywords

magnetotail, auroral breakup, current disruption model, two dimensional MHD simulation

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.15.2401053

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