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Register a new userThe Confinement of the Heliosheath Plasma by the Solar Magnetic Field as Revealed by Energetic Neutral Atom Simulations
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Traditionally, the solar magnetic field has been considered to have a negligible effect in the outer regions of the heliosphere. Recent works have shown that the solar magnetic field may play a crucial role in collimating the plasma in the heliosheath. Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) observations of the heliotail indicated a latitudinal structure varying with energy in the energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes. At energies ~1 keV, the ENA fluxes show an enhancement at low latitudes and a deficit of ENAs near the poles. At energies >2.7 keV, ENA fluxes had a deficit within low latitudes, and lobes of higher ENA flux near the poles. This ENA structure was initially interpreted to be a result of the latitudinal profile of the solar wind during solar minimum. We extend the work of Kornbleuth et al. (2018) by using solar minimum-like conditions and the recently developed SHIELD model. The SHIELD model couples the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma solution with a kinetic description of neutral hydrogen. We show that while the latitudinal profile of the solar wind during solar minimum contributes to the lobes in ENA maps, the collimation by the solar magnetic field is important in creating and shaping the two high latitude lobes of enhanced ENA flux observed by IBEX. This is the first work to explore the effect of the changing solar magnetic field strength on ENA maps. Our findings suggest that IBEX is providing the first observational evidence of the collimation of the heliosheath plasma by the solar magnetic field.
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The spectrum of gyrosynchrotron emission from solar flares generally peaks in the microwave range. Its optically-thin, high-frequency component, above the spectral peak, is often used for diagnostics of the nonthermal electrons and the magnetic field in the radio source. Under favorable conditions, its low-frequency counterpart brings additional, complementary information about these parameters as well as thermal plasma diagnostics, either through gyrosynchrotron self-absorption, free-free absorption by the thermal plasma, or the suppression of emission through the so-called Razin effect. However, their effects on the low-frequency spectrum are often masked by spatial nonuniformity. To disentangle the various contributions to low-frequency gyrosynchrotron emission, a combination of spectral and imaging data is needed. To this end, we have investigated Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) multi-frequency images for 26 solar bursts observed jointly with Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) during the first half of 2002. For each, we examined dynamic spectra, time- and frequency-synthesis maps, RHESSI images with overlaid OVSA contours, and a few representative single-frequency snapshot OVSA images. We focus on the frequency dependence of microwave source sizes derived from the OVSA images and their effect on the low-frequency microwave spectral slope. We succeed in categorizing 18 analyzed events into several groups. Four events demonstrate clear evidence of being dominated by gyrosynchrotron self-absorption, with an inferred brightness temperature of $geq10^8$~K. The low-frequency spectra in the remaining events are affected to varying degree by Razin suppression. We find that many radio sources are rather large at low frequencies, which can have important implications for solar energetic particle production and escape.
Nonthermal loop-top sources in solar flares are the most prominent observational signature that suggests energy release and particle acceleration in the solar corona. Although several scenarios for particle acceleration have been proposed, the origin of the loop-top sources remains unclear. Here we present a model that combines a large-scale magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a two-ribbon flare with a particle acceleration and transport model for investigating electron acceleration by a fast-mode termination shock at the looptop. Our model provides spatially resolved electron distribution that evolves in response to the dynamic flare geometry. We find a concave-downward magnetic structure located below the flare termination shock, induced by the fast reconnection downflows. It acts as a magnetic trap to confine the electrons at the looptop for an extended period of time. The electrons are energized significantly as they cross the shock front, and eventually build up a power-law energy spectrum extending to hundreds of keV. We suggest that this particle acceleration and transport scenario driven by a flare termination shock is a viable interpretation for the observed nonthermal loop-top sources.
Interstellar neutral hydrogen (ISN H) gas penetrates freely the heliopause. Inside the inner heliosheath, the charge-exchange interaction of this gas with the shocked solar wind and pickup ions creates energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). ISN H is strongly depleted inside the termination shock but a fraction reaches the Earths orbit. In these regions of the heliosphere, ISN H is the source population for interstellar pickup ions and for the heliospheric backscatter glow. The Globally Distributed Flux (GDF) of ENAs created in the inner heliosheath has been sampled directly by Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). Based on these measurements, we calculate the density of the GDF ENA population at the Earths orbit. We find that this number density is between $10^{-4}$ and $10^{-3}$ cm$^{-3}$, i.e., comparable in magnitude to the number density of ISN H in the downwind portion of the Earths orbit. Half of this atom population have energies less than $sim 80$ eV. This GDF population of neutral hydrogen is likely to provide a significant contribution to the intensity of heliospheric glow in the downwind hemisphere, may be the source of the inner source of hydrogen pickup ions, and may be responsible for the excess of production of pickup ions found in the analysis of magnetic wave events induced by the proton pickup process in the downwind region at 1 au from the Sun.
The surprising thinness of the solar tachocline is still not understood with certainty today. Among the numerous possible scenarios suggested to explain its radial confinement, one hypothesis is based on Maxwell stresses that are exerted by the cyclic dynamo magnetic field of the Sun penetrating over a skin depth below the turbulent convection zone. Our goal is to assess under which conditions (turbulence level in the tachocline, strength of the dynamo-generated field, spreading mechanism) this scenario can be realized in the solar tachocline. We develop a simplified 1D model of the upper tachocline under the influence of an oscillating magnetic field imposed from above. The turbulent transport is parametrized with enhanced turbulent diffusion (or anti-diffusion) coefficients. Two main processes that thicken the tachocline are considered; either turbulent viscous spreading or radiative spreading. An extensive parameter study is carried out to establish the physical parameter regimes under which magnetic confinement of the tachocline that is due to a surface dynamo field can be realized. We have explored a large range of magnetic field amplitudes, viscosities, ohmic diffusivities and thermal diffusivities. We find that, for large but still realistic magnetic field strengths, the differential rotation can be suppressed in the upper radiative zone (and hence the tachocline confined) if weak turbulence is present (with an enhanced ohmic diffusivity of $eta > 10^{7-8} , cm^2/s$), even in the presence of radiative spreading. Our results show that a dynamo magnetic field can, in the presence of weak turbulence, prevent the inward burrowing of a tachocline subject to viscous diffusion or radiative spreading.
We present a statistical analysis for the characteristics and spatial evolution of the interplanetary discontinuities (IDs) in the solar wind, from 0.13 to 0.9 au, by using the Parker Solar Probe measurements on Orbits 4 and 5. 3948 IDs have been collected, including 2511 rotational discontinuities (RDs) and 557 tangential discontinuities (TDs), with the remnant unidentified. The statistical results show that (1) the ID occurrence rate decreases from 200 events/day at 0.13 au to 1 events/day at 0.9 au, following a spatial scaling r-2.00, (2) the RD to TD ratio decreases quickly with the heliocentric distance, from 8 at r<0.3 au to 1 at r>0.4 au, (3) the magnetic field tends to rotate across the IDs, 45{deg} for TDs and 30{deg} for RDs in the pristine solar wind within 0.3 au, (4) a special subgroup of RDs exist within 0.3 au, characterized by small field rotation angles and parallel or antiparallel propagations to the background magnetic fields, (5) the TD thicknesses normalized by local ion inertial lengths (di) show no clear spatial scaling and generally range from 5 to 35 di, and the normalized RD thicknesses follow r-1.09 spatial scaling, (6) the outward (anti-sunward) propagating RDs predominate in all RDs, with the propagation speeds in the plasma rest frame proportional to r-1.03. This work could improve our understandings for the ID characteristics and evolutions and shed light on the study of the turbulent environment in the pristine solar wind.
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