Electron anisotropies in depolarization events
Presentation Type
Talk
Presenter Format
In Person Meeting Talk
Topic
Nightside Science
Start Date
11-5-2022 1:00 PM
Abstract
Anisotropic electron distributions can be a major source of free energy for the generation of microinstabilities and waves. We investigate specifically anisotropies of the suprathermal electrons associated with dipolarization events in the geomagnetic tail. The investigation is based on an MHD simulation of magnetotail reconnection, flow bursts and dipolarization. This simulation is used to trace test particles in the electromagnetic fields of the MHD simulation and investigate their acceleration and contributions to flux increases. The simulated velocity distributions yield anisotropies which can be dominantly parallel ("cigar"-shaped), perpendicular ("pancake"-shaped) to the magnetic field, or a combination thereof (e.g., "rolling-pin"-shaped), depending on location, relative timing, and energy. We investigate sources and acceleration mechanisms.
Electron anisotropies in depolarization events
Anisotropic electron distributions can be a major source of free energy for the generation of microinstabilities and waves. We investigate specifically anisotropies of the suprathermal electrons associated with dipolarization events in the geomagnetic tail. The investigation is based on an MHD simulation of magnetotail reconnection, flow bursts and dipolarization. This simulation is used to trace test particles in the electromagnetic fields of the MHD simulation and investigate their acceleration and contributions to flux increases. The simulated velocity distributions yield anisotropies which can be dominantly parallel ("cigar"-shaped), perpendicular ("pancake"-shaped) to the magnetic field, or a combination thereof (e.g., "rolling-pin"-shaped), depending on location, relative timing, and energy. We investigate sources and acceleration mechanisms.
