arXiv subjects

Satoshi Kasahara

Publications and source records attributed to Satoshi Kasahara.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

First Observation of Multiple Very-Near-Earth Reconnection Events During a Single Storm Main Phase

For the first time, this paper presents three very-near-Earth reconnection (VNERX) events observed within the same 12-hour-long storm main phase. The THEMIS inner probes observed the hallmarks of three episodes of tailward retreating x-lines positioned between magnetic local time (MLT) 23-24 and radial distance 12-13 Earth radii (RE). The events occurred within a thin current sheet, < 1 RE thick. Simultaneously, dispersionless energetic particle injections above 10s of keV and magnetic field dipolarizations were observed near and earthward of geosynchronous altitude by the KOMPSAT and Arase satellites. Arase observed earthward flow bursts at or below geosynchronous altitude via ExB enhancements, suggesting VNERX ejecta proceed below geosynchronous orbit. These observations demonstrate that VNERX events, which predominantly occur during the storm main phase, can be frequent and essential for driving injections that can effectively power the ring current. However, they can be observed only at the pre-midnight sector, close to the neutral sheet.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2026

Kinetic renormalization of auroral turbulence

Driven-dissipative systems often exhibit self-organization in the form of coherent dissipative structures. However, observing such critical states in natural plasmas remains elusive, leading to the traditional view that the fine structure of Earth's auroral ionosphere is shaped by local turbulent flows. Here we report the discovery of a self-organizing regime in Earth's ionosphere. We identify this by modeling the sum of saturation electric fields in the turbulent auroral electrojets as a stochastic variable that renormalizes into noise-enabled transport, via explicitly derived Bohm diffusion. This constitutes an effective field-theory for Farley-Buneman turbulence in the Martin-Siggia-Rose formalism for renormalization group theory, for which we provide strong empirical evidence. Using a composite radar-GPS power spectrum of plasma turbulence, we resolve a scale-invariant cascade that exhibits a characteristic kinetic Alfvén $k^{-8/3}$-signature across four orders of magnitude in $k$. What is more, a large statistical analysis of how the turbulence responds to magnetospheric driving reveals a clear tendency for the observed number density of turbulent waves to scale linearly with driving power, matching the predictions made by our field theory's overdamped equations of motion, which offer closed-form calculations of macroscopic transport relations that are uniquely suitable for sub-grid parameterization in space weather modeling. This establishes geospace storms as opportunities to observe non-equilibrium phase transitions imposing global constraints on collision-dominated systems.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2025

A Characteristic Signature of Magnetospheric Wave-Particle Interactions Found in the Turbulent E-region

Plasma waves in the magnetosphere scatter electrons, causing them to precipitate into Earth's atmosphere, imparting their temporal characteristics to diffuse auroras. In a case study of conjugate radar and satellite observations, we demonstrate a close and unprecedented association between enhanced electrostatic cyclotron harmonic wave activity in the magnetosphere and the appearance of meter-scale plasma turbulence a few seconds later in the lower ionosphere on nearby magnetic field lines. Such direct structuring of the ionosphere carries implications for our understanding of space weather.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2025

Development of a bunching ionizer for TOF mass spectrometers with reduced resources

In some types of mass spectrometers, such as Time of Flight mass spectrometers (TOF-MSs), it is necessary to control pulsed beams of ions. This can be easily accomplished by applying a pulsed voltage to the pusher electrode while the ionizer is continuously flowing ions. This method is preferred for its simplicity, although the ion utilization efficiency is not optimized. Here we employed another pulse-control method with a higher ion utilization rate, which is to bunch ions and kick them out instead of letting them stream. The benefit of this method is that higher sensitivity can be achieved; since the start of new ions cannot be allowed during TOF separation, it is highly advantageous to bunch ions that would otherwise be unusable. In this study, we used analytical and numerical methods to design a new bunching ionizer with reduced resources, adopting the principle of electrostatic ion beam trap. The test model experimentally demonstrated the bunching performance with respect to sample gas density and ion bunching time using gas samples and electron impact ionization. We also conducted an experiment in connection with a miniature TOF-MS, and showed that the sensitivity was improved by more than one order of magnitude using the newly developed ionizer. Since the device is capable of bunching ions with lower voltage and lower power consumption (~100 V, ~0.8 W) compared with conventional RF ion trap bunchers (several kilovolts, ~10 W), it will be possible to find applications in portable mass spectrometer with reduced resources.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2022

Development of an electron impact ion source with high ionization efficiency for future planetary missions

Ion sources using electron impact ionization (EI) methods have been widely accepted in mass spectrometry for planetary exploration missions because of their simplicity. Previous space-borne mass spectrometers were primarily designed with the EI method using rhenium tungsten alloy filaments, enabling up to 200 uA emission in typical cases. The emission level is desired to be enhanced because the sensitivity of mass spectrometers is a critical requirement for the future in situ mass spectrometry related to the measurement of trace components in planetary samples. In this study, we developed a new high-emission EI ion source using a Y2O3-coated iridium filament, which has a lower work function than rhenium tungsten alloy. The size of the ion source was 30 mm * 26 mm * 70 mm, and its weight was 70 g. We confirmed that when consuming 3.0 W power, the ion source emits more than 2 mA electrons, which is 10 times greater than the previous models electron emission level. Ionization efficiency of the EI ion source is proportional to the amount of electron emission, which implies our new model increased the ionization efficiency 10 times. We conducted performance tests on the prototype with the 3.0 W heating condition, confirming a high ionization efficiency (10^4 nA/Pa). In addition, we conducted endurance tests of the ion source and demonstrated the persistence of the ionization efficiency for 30 min * 100 cycles.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2021

Comparative study of electric currents and energetic particle fluxes in a solar flare and Earth magnetospheric substorm

Magnetic field-line reconnection is a universal plasma process responsible for the conversion of magnetic field energy to the plasma heating and charged particle acceleration. Solar flares and Earth's magnetospheric substorms are two most investigated dynamical systems where magnetic reconnection is believed to be responsible for global magnetic field reconfiguration and energization of plasma populations. Such a reconfiguration includes formation of a long-living current systems connecting the primary energy release region and cold dense conductive plasma of photosphere/ionosphere. In both flares and substorms the evolution of this current system correlates with formation and dynamics of energetic particle fluxes. Our study is focused on this similarity between flares and substorms. Using a wide range of datasets available for flare and substorm investigations, we compare qualitatively dynamics of currents and energetic particle fluxes for one flare and one substorm. We showed that there is a clear correlation between energetic particle bursts (associated with energy release due to magnetic reconnection) and magnetic field reconfiguration/formation of current system. We then discuss how datasets of in-situ measurements in the magnetospheric substorm can help in interpretation of datasets gathered for the solar flare.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2019

A Case for Electron-Astrophysics

A grand-challenge problem at the forefront of physics is to understand how energy is transported and transformed in plasmas. This fundamental research priority encapsulates the conversion of plasma-flow and electromagnetic energies into particle energy, either as heat or some other form of energisation. The smallest characteristic scales, at which electron dynamics determines the plasma behaviour, are the next frontier in space and astrophysical plasma research. The analysis of astrophysical processes at these scales lies at the heart of the field of electron-astrophysics. Electron scales are the ultimate bottleneck for dissipation of plasma turbulence, which is a fundamental process not understood in the electron-kinetic regime. Since electrons are the most numerous and most mobile plasma species in fully ionised plasmas and are strongly guided by the magnetic field, their thermal properties couple very efficiently to global plasma dynamics and thermodynamics.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2019

Cometary Plasma Science -- A White Paper in response to the Voyage 2050 Call by the European Space Agency

Comets hold the key to the understanding of our solar system, its formation and its evolution, and to the fundamental plasma processes at work both in it and beyond it. A comet nucleus emits gas as it is heated by the sunlight. The gas forms the coma, where it is ionised, becomes a plasma and eventually interacts with the solar wind. Besides these neutral and ionised gases, the coma also contains dust grains, released from the comet nucleus. As a cometary atmosphere develops when the comet travels through the solar system, large-scale structures, such as the plasma boundaries, develop and disappear, while at planets such large-scale structures are only accessible in their fully grown, quasi-steady state. In situ measurements at comets enable us to learn both how such large-scale structures are formed or reformed and how small-scale processes in the plasma affect the formation and properties of these large scale structures. Furthermore, a comet goes through a wide range of parameter regimes during its life cycle, where either collisional processes, involving neutrals and charged particles, or collisionless processes are at play, and might even compete in complicated transitional regimes. Thus a comet presents a unique opportunity to study this parameter space, from an asteroid-like to a Mars- and Venus-like interaction. Fast flybys of comets have made many new discoveries, setting the stage for a multi-spacecraft mission to accompany a comet on its journey through the solar system. This white paper reviews the present-day knowledge of cometary plasmas, discusses the many questions that remain unanswered, and outlines a multi-spacecraft ESA mission to accompany a comet that will answer these questions by combining both multi-spacecraft observations and a rendezvous mission, and at the same time advance our understanding of fundamental plasma physics and its role in planetary systems.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

Electron intensity measurements by the Cluster/RAPID/IES instrument in Earths radiation belts and ring current

The Cluster mission, launched in 2000, has produced a large database of electron flux intensity measurements in the Earths magnetosphere by the Research with Adaptive Particle Imaging Detector (RAPID)/ Imaging Electron Spectrometer (IES) instrument. However, due to background contamination of the data with high-energy electrons (>400 keV) and inner- zone protons (230-630 keV) in the radiation belts and ring current, the data have been rarely used for inner-magnetospheric science. The current paper presents two algorithms for background correction. The first algorithm is based on the empirical contamination percentages by both protons and electrons. The second algorithm uses simultaneous proton observations. The efficiencies of these algorithms are demonstrated by comparison of the corrected Cluster/RAPID/IES data with Van Allen Probes/Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) measurements for 2012-2015. Both techniques improved the IES electron data in the radiation belts and ring current.Yearly averaged flux intensities of the two missions show the ratio of measurements close to 1. IES corrected measurements were also compared with Arase Medium-Energy Particle Experiments-Electron Analyzer (MEP-e) electron data during two conjunction periods in 2017 and also exhibited ratio close to 1. We demonstrate a scientific application of the corrected IES electron data analyzing its evolution during solar cycle. Spin-averaged yearly mean IES electron intensities in the outer belt for energies 40-400 keV at L-shell between 4 and 6 showed high positive correlation with AE index and solar wind dynamic pressure during 2001- 2016. Relationship between solar wind dynamic pressure and IES electron measurements in the outer radiation belt was derived as a uniform linear-logarithmic equation.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2012

Field-aligned beams and reconnection in the jovian magnetotail

The release of plasma in the jovian magnetotail is observed in the form of plasmoids, travelling compression regions, field-aligned particle beams and flux-rope like events. We demonstrate that electrons propagate along the magnetic field lines in the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL), while close to the current sheet center the electron distribution is isotropic. The evidences of the counterstreaming electron beams in the PSBLs are also presented. Most of the field-aligned energetic ion beams are associated with the field-aligned electron beams and about half of them have the bipolar fluctuation of the meridional magnetic field component. Moreover they often show a normal velocity dispersion for the different species which fits well in the scenario of particle propagation from a single source. All features above are observed during jovian reconfiguration events which are typically bonded with plasma flow reversals. From all these characteristics, which are based on energetic particle measurements, we believe that the reconfiguration processes in the jovian magnetotail are associated with reconnection.

astro-ph.EP↗