AbstractThe previous results on the magnetosheath plasma investigation show that the magnetosheath ion population often consists of a shocked solar wind and a magnetospheric component with a higher energy. Both these components are usually considered as having a Maxwellian energy ion distribution function (DF), whereas measurements with sufficient temporal and angular resolution reveal a “beam” structure of DF in a large region downstream of the bow shock. In this contribution we present experimental data demonstrating such structure in the low-energy part (up to 20 keV) of the ion DF in that region. We suggest some processes likely to be responsible for the creation of a smooth magnetosheath DF from the narrow beams which originated in the shock. Our results give a high degree of correlation between these processes and the magnetic field fluctuations. We are led to the conclusion that either the low-frequenccy waves with high amplitudes are generated during the relaxation process or the assumption of frozen-in magnetic field does not hold with sufficient accuracy.
Ion distribution function in the magnetosheath: Fine structure
Advances in Space Research ; 14 , 7 ; 31-34
1994-01-01
4 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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