faculty of science department of physics field line resonances in the earth’s magnetosphere and...
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Faculty of Science Department of Physics
Field Line Resonances in the Earth’s Magnetosphere and
Astrophysical Plasmas
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J. C. Samson
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
Brief Outline
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1. Early Years: 1950-1970 (Early theories of FLRs) Dungey 1954, Tamao 1965
2. The Middle Years: 1971-1990) (Consolidation of FLR model and further observations) Chen and Hasgawa 1974, Greenwald and Walker 1980, Samson 1972 (etc.), Southwood
1974
3. The Later Years: 1991-2011 Discrete FLRs, (Cavity and waveguide modes, nonlinear MHD and FLRs, kinetic effects, auroral arcs)
Kivelson and Southwood 1985, Wright , Samson et. al. (various including Dobias, Fenrich, Greenwald, Harrold, Rankin, Ruohoniemi, Waters)
4. The Later Years (Astrophysical plasmas) Rezania and Samson 2004 (neutron star magnetospheres)
(And, of course, there are many other papers and authors.)
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
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STARE radar observations of N-S electric field (3.2-4.5 mHz) in the ionosphere(Greenwald and Walker,1980).
FLR radial E-field in Equatorial plane (solid line: amplitude; dashed line: phase) (Samson, 2011).
FLR electric fields
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
Polarization of 5 mHz FLRs (horizontal plane)UofA Magnetometers
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Samson, 1972
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
Latitude Dependence of Period or Frequency of FLRs
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Nishida, 1978 Samson and Rostoker, 1972
Maximum U Alberta H-componentmagnetometer data
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
Dispersive Field Line Resonances
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Trondsen, T. S., L.L. Cogger, and J.C. Samson,, Geophys. Res. Lett., 24, 2945-2948, 1997.
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
FLRs in Neutron Star Magnetospheres
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The discovery of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) has been reported and discussed in recent studies in theoretical and observational astrophysics. The Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer has observed oscillations in the X-ray flux of about 20 accreting neutron stars. These oscillations are very strong and remarkably coherent with frequencies ranging from » 10 Hz to » 1200 Hz. The kHz frequencies correspond to dynamical time scales at radii of a few tens of kilometers, and are possibly closely related to the Keplerian orbital frequency of matter at the inner disk. Almost all sources have also shown twin spectral peak QPOs in the 500 Hz to 1200 Hz part of the spectrum.
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
FLRs, QPOs and X-ray Aurora in Neutron Star Magnetospheres
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Theoretical model (Rezania and Samson, 2004).
Faculty of Science Department of Physics
Summary
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1. Early Years: 1950-1970 (Early theories of FLRs) Impressive achievements and a strong start for future studies of FLRs.
2. The Middle Years: 1971-1990 The field reaches maturity, at least for nonlinear MHD models. A variety of instruments has
now seen FLRs (radars, magnetometers (on the ground and satellites) , optical instruments).
3. The Later Years: 1991-2011 There are many solid achievements ,including new ideas with kinetic effects and nonlinear
MHD, but many puzzles remain, including the sources of discrete modes and auroral arcs. The future looks exciting.
4. The Later Years (Astrophysical plasmas) The universe is before us! (Including FLRs in planetary magnetospheres, astrophysical
systems (including stars, neutron stars, and, (could it be?), black holes.)