Hybrid simulations of coronal mass ejection shock structures
Gargate, L.; Bingham, R.; Fonseca, R. A.; Silva, L. O.
32nd EPS Conference on Plasma Physics 8th International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets. 27 June-1 July, 2005. Tarragona, spain2005
32nd EPS Conference on Plasma Physics 8th International Workshop on Fast Ignition of Fusion Targets. 27 June-1 July, 2005. Tarragona, spain2005
AbstractAbstract
[en] The study of geomagnetic storms is a topic of great practical interest due to its effects on everyday's life. Originating from the sun, these storms result from high energy ions that couple to the earth's magnetosphere and are sometimes responsible for damaging satellites, interrupting radio communications and even causing power surges on some extreme occasions. Coronal mass ejections (CME's) are large scale solar events consisting of massive quantities of over-dense hot plasma (∼10''16 g of plasma in the temperature range of ∼ 4MK) that is ejected from the sun's streamer belt in a region known as the coronal. CME's can travel at speeds up to 1000 km/s interacting with the slower solar wind and causing the large scale formation of highly energetic ions due to wave particle interactions in the shock front. The actual acceleration mechanisms of the energetic ions are still under strong debate. In this paper the acceleration processes of solar energetic particle events due to CMEs are investigated. A 3D hybrid particle code called dHybrid simulate the corona environment. In dHybrid, the ions are assumed kinetic and the electrons are treated as a neutralizing massless fluid. A arbitrary number of particle species can be initialized in the simulation box, along with an arbitrary external magnetic field allowing a suitable configuration for this kind of studies. The code can also solve the MHD set of equations allowing for comparison between the models. Initial conditions are set in accordance with MHD models of the corona widely described in the literature. The simulation reveals the presence of shock like structures, being the source of SEPs. Analysis of the acceleration of ions in the shocks is examined. A detailed comparison between MHD results and hybrid simulation results is also presented. (Author)
Primary Subject
Source
128 p; 2005; [vp.]; Editorial Ciemat; Madrid (Spain)
Record Type
Book
Country of publication
Descriptors (DEI)
Descriptors (DEC)
Reference NumberReference Number
INIS VolumeINIS Volume
INIS IssueINIS Issue