HR: 1340h
AN: SM23A-0499    [Abstracts]
TI: Nonlinear Pulses of Small-scale Alfven Waves
AU: * Tsung, F S
EM: tsung@physics.ucla.edu
AF: Department of Physics & Astronomy, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095
AU: Tonge, J
EM: tonge@physics.ucla.edu
AF: Department of Physics & Astronomy, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095
AU: Morales, G J
EM: morales@physics.ucla.edu
AF: Department of Physics & Astronomy, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095
AB: A particle-in-cell code is used to investigate the dynamics of short pulses (on the order of one cycle) of shear Alfven waves having transverse scale comparable to the electron skin-depth or the ion Larmour radius. The signals are excited by pulsing a transverse electric field at a remote boundary across the confinement field at sufficiently large levels that result in travelling pulses with magnetic fluctuations delta $B/B_{0}$ on the order of a few percent . It is found that fast electrons are generated that outrun the pulse and also that secondary waves trail the front of pulse. The differences in behavior for the inertial and kinetic regimes are explored. The interaction of this pulse with a reflecting boundary will also be explored. The phenomena is of relevance to current models of auroral dynamics and to on-going laboratory experiments in which high-power pulses are applied.
DE: 2700 MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS
DE: 2753 Numerical modeling
DE: 2772 Plasma waves and instabilities
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting