arXiv subjects

Zoltan Nemeth

Publications and source records attributed to Zoltan Nemeth.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Reinterpreting the sunward electron deficit: Implications for solar wind acceleration and core population formation

This paper re-evaluates the relationship between the observed sunward electron cutoff energy and the depth of the Sun's global electrostatic potential. It investigates whether taking into account the effects of local traps formed by magnetic fluctuations provides an alternative explanation for the observed electron deficit. The fluctuations of the highly variable interplanetary magnetic field form a series of shallow magnetic mirror traps that move at approximately the speed of the solar wind. The study investigates the dynamics of electrons as they move outward against an attractive solar electrostatic potential and interact with these traps. By following the motion of the electrons using first-principles calculations, we assess the effect of the traps on the velocity distribution of the particles. Electrons that escape the local trap continue to lose energy as they move outward until they are eventually captured by subsequent traps, preventing them from returning to the observer as sunward-moving particles. We derive a mathematical expression for the cutoff velocity, defined as the limit beyond which particles can no longer overtake the outer endpoint of a local trap. It turns out that the observed cutoff energy characterizes only the local potential drop within a trap, rather than the total depth of the Sun's potential well. The true potential well can be significantly deeper, scaled by the ratio of the radial distance from the Sun to the trap size. Furthermore, electrons captured by these moving traps contribute to the formation of the solar wind core population. The Sun's electrostatic potential is a more significant factor in solar wind acceleration than previously interpreted from cutoff data. The interaction between electrostatic deceleration and moving magnetic traps provides a new framework for understanding the origin and behavior of the solar wind core electrons.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Closed field line vortices in planetary magnetospheres

In a rotation-dominated magnetosphere, there is a region where closed field lines rotate around the planet, and also a region where the open field lines stretch away from the planet, forming the lobes of the magnetotail. This paper shows that there could be a third, significantly different region, where the closed field lines form twisted vortex structures anchored in the magnetotail. Such patterns form when there are significant plasma sources inside the magnetosphere and the time scale of the plasmoid formation process is substantially larger than the planetary rotation period. In the presence of vortices, the Dungey and Vasyliunas cycles act differently. The Dungey flow does not penetrate the central region of the polar cap. Tail reconnection events are rare, thus leaving the plasma time enough to participate in the essentially 3-dimensional vortex-forming plasma motion. The above conditions are fulfilled for Saturn. We discovered vortex-like patterns in the plasma and magnetic field data measured by the Cassini spacecraft in the nightside magnetosphere of Saturn. The plasma whirling around in these vortices never reaches the dayside, instead, it performs a retrograde motion in the high latitude regions of the magnetotail. Low-energy plasma data suggest that the observed patterns correspond to the closed field line vortices.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

A global study of hot flow anomalies using Cluster multi-spacecraft measurements

Hot flow anomalies (HFAs) are studied using observations of the magnetometer and the plasma instrument aboard the four Cluster spacecraft. We study several specific features of tangential discontinuities on the basis of Cluster measurements from the time periods of February-April 2003, December 2005-April 2006 and January-April 2007, when the separation distance of spacecraft was large. The previously discovered condition (Facsko et al., 2008) for forming HFAs is confirmed, i.e. that the solar wind speed and fast magnetosonic Mach number values are higher than average. Furthermore, this constraint is independent of the Schwartz et al. (2000)s condition for HFA formation. The existence of this new condition is confirmed by simultaneous ACE magnetic field and solar wind plasma observations at the L1 point, at 1.4 million km distance from the Earth. The temperature, particle density and pressure parameters observed at the time of HFA formation are also studied and compared to average values of the solar wind plasma. The size of the region affected by the HFA was estimated by using two different methods. We found that the size is mainly influenced by the magnetic shear and the angle between the discontinuity normal and the Sun-Earth direction. The size grows with the shear and (up to a certain point) with the angle as well. After that point it starts decreasing. The results are compared with the outcome of recent hybrid simulations.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2012

Statistical extension of classical Tauberian theorems in the case of logarithmic summability of locally integrable functions on $[1,\infty)$

Let $s:[1,\infty) \to \C $ be a locally integrable function in Lebesgue's sense. The logarithmic (also called harmonic) mean of the function $s$ is defined by [τ(t) := \frac 1{\log t} \int_1^t \frac {s(x)}{x} dx, \qquad t>1,] where the logarithm is to base $e$. Besides the ordinary limit $\lim_{x\to \infty} s(x)$, we also use the notion of the so-called statistical limit of $s$ at $\infty$, in notation: $ \stlim_{x\to \infty} s(x)=\ell $, by which we mean that for every $\e>0$, [\lim_{b\to \infty} \frac 1b \Big | \Big {x\in(1,b): |s(x)-\ell| >\e \Big} \Big| = 0.] We also use the ordinary limit $\lim_{t\to\infty} τ(t)$ as well as the statistical limit $\stlim_{t\to\infty} τ(t)$. We will prove the following Tauberian theorem: Suppose that the real-valued function $s$ is slowly decreasing or the complex-valued $s$ is slowly oscillating. If the statistical limit $\stlim_{t\to\infty} τ(t) =\ell $ exists, then the ordinary limit $\lim_{x\to\infty} s(x) = \ell $ also exists.

math.CA↗