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A 100 KW Class Applied-field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster

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Published on: December 22, 2018

Supermagnetosonic jets behind a collisionless quasiparallel shock.

H Hietala¹, T V Laitinen, K Andréeová

¹Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Post Office Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland. heli.hietala@helsinki.fi

Physical Review Letters

|April 7, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Collisionless quasiparallel shocks create supermagnetosonic jets and secondary shock fronts. Local shock curvature variations generate these phenomena, applicable to various plasma environments.

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Area of Science:

Space Physics
Plasma Physics
Astrophysics

Background:

Collisionless quasiparallel shocks exhibit complex downstream structures.
The origin of high-energy-density bulk flows in these regions was previously unidentified.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the generation mechanism of supermagnetosonic jets and secondary shock fronts downstream of collisionless quasiparallel shocks.
To analyze Cluster multispacecraft measurements to understand plasma dynamics.

Main Methods:

Utilized Cluster multispacecraft data to observe supermagnetosonic jets and secondary shock fronts.
Analyzed plasma bulk flows, kinetic energy density, and density variations.

Main Results:

Identified local shock curvature variations as the source of fast, deflected jets.
Demonstrated that supermagnetosonic jets can form a secondary shock front in the sheath.
Observed high kinetic energy density in the downstream bulk flows.

Conclusions:

Proposed a novel generation mechanism for jets and secondary shocks driven by shock curvature.
Results are applicable to understanding collisionless quasiparallel shocks in diverse plasma environments.