arXiv subjects

E. A. Ponomarev

Publications and source records attributed to E. A. Ponomarev.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2004

An Alternative Approach to Explaining Magnetospheric Processes

This paper gives a brief outline of the progression from the first substorm model developed in [Ponomarev, 1985; Sedykh, Ponomarev, 2002] based on C.F. Kennel's ideas, to the present views about the mechanism by which solar wind kinetic energy is converted to electromagnetic energy at the Bow Shock and by which this energy is transferred to the magnetosphere in the form of current; about the transformation of the energy of this current to gas kinetic energy of convecting plasma tubes, and, finally, the back transformation of gas kinetic energy to electromagnetic energy in secondary magnetospheric MHD generators. The questions of the formation of the magnetospheric convection system, the nature of substorm break-up, and of the matching of currents in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system are discussed.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2003

Concerning the conjugation of field-aligned currents

It is known that the combined action of convection and pitch-angle diffusion is responsible for the formation of gas pressure distribution in the magnetosphere. Plasma pressure, in turn, determines - within the framework of a given magnetic field model - the density of bulk currents in the magnetosphere. With a knowledge of the bulk currents as a function of coordinates, we can calculate the field-aligned currents as a divergence of bulk currents. On the other hand, specifying the convection model is equivalent to specifying the electric field model. Since within the approximation of equipotential field lines the electric field is common to the magnetosphere and ionosphere, bulk currents and field-aligned currents in the ionosphere can be formally calculated subject to the condition that ionospheric conductivity is wholly determined by electron precipitation from the magnetosphere. The precipitation intensity is readily inferred from the same magnetospheric model. Thus we have two systems of field-aligned currents. One system is calculated from the model of plasma pressure distribution in the magnetosphere, and the other is inferred from a given model of the electric field and the electroconductivity model calculated from electron precipitation. This brings up the question: How can these two systems of field-aligned currents be reconciled? From previous studies it is known that magnetospheric convection "adjusts itself" to the level of energy losses in the ionosphere. Based on this, an attempt can be made to achieve a conjugation of the aforementioned two systems of field-aligned currents. This paper is devoted to analyzing such an attempt.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2003

Conditions of excitation of magnetospheric convection by the electric current generated in the bow shock

This paper analyzes the consequences of electric current generation at the front of the Bow Shock (BS) and the dependence of the direction of this current on the IMF. The conditions of this current closure through the body of the magnetosphere are discussed. It is shown that the process of penetration of the external current into magnetized plasma has a two-stage character. Initially, a change in current on the boundary gives rise to a region of surface charge, the field of which polarizes the near-wall layer with the thickness on the order of one gyroradius of protons. The polarization process involves the formation of the displacement current which produces the Ampere force accelerating the plasma inside the double layer. When the plasma velocity reaches the electric drift velocity (within a time on the order of the inverse gyrofrequency of protons), the electric field in this plasma disappears, whereas in a fixed frame of reference, on the contrary, it reaches equilibrium values. The front of variation of the electric field penetrates the plasma with the velocity of a fast magnetosonic wave. A change in the convection velocity field causes a redistribution of plasma pressure. The appearance of corresponding gradients signifies the penetration of current into plasma. The gradients are changing until a new steady state is reached, to which the new convection velocity field and the new plasma pressure field correspond. This new state is reached in a time which is estimated.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2001

Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling in the Region of Auroral Electrojets

We discuss the question as to how the magnetospheric energy source feeds the ionospheric current system. It is shown that a consistent application and further development of Kennel's ideas makes it possible to successfully solve the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling problem in regard to the formation of auroral electrojets by steady volume currents generated in the magnetosphere by the magnetospheric MHD generator in the case of a simple model which, nevertheless, retains the essential features of the reality. It is concluded that the whole of the complicated magnetospheric ''design'' only acts to redistribute, in space and time, currents and energy fluxes which must be supplied by external sources to feed the dissipative processes in the ionosphere.

physics.geo-ph↗