Oscillations of subcritical fast magnetosonic shock boundaries caused by shock reformation

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dieckmann, M E, Bret, A, Folini, D, Walder, R
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909397520744448
author Dieckmann, M E
Bret, A
Folini, D
Walder, R
author_facet Dieckmann, M E
Bret, A
Folini, D
Walder, R
contents The evolution of a deformed subcritical fast magnetosonic shock front is compared between two two-dimensional PIC simulations with different orientations of the magnetic field relative to the simulation box. All other initial and simulation conditions are kept identical. Shock boundary oscillations are observed in the simulation where the magnetic field direction is resolved. This oscillation is caused by the reformation of the shock front. One part of the front acts as a shock, while the other functions as a magnetic piston, with both halves changing their states in antiphase. The oscillation period corresponds to the time required for one shock wave to grow as the other collapses. In contrast, the corrugated fast magnetosonic shock does not oscillate in the second simulation, where the magnetic field is oriented out of the simulation plane. This dependence on magnetic field orientation suggests that the shock oscillation is induced by magnetic tension, which is only effective in the first simulation. In both simulations, the shock perturbation does not grow over time, indicating that the shocks are stable. The potential relevance of these findings for the Alfvénic oscillations of the supercritical Earth's bow shock, detected by the MMS multi-spacecraft mission, is also discussed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_13434
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Oscillations of subcritical fast magnetosonic shock boundaries caused by shock reformation
Dieckmann, M E
Bret, A
Folini, D
Walder, R
Plasma Physics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The evolution of a deformed subcritical fast magnetosonic shock front is compared between two two-dimensional PIC simulations with different orientations of the magnetic field relative to the simulation box. All other initial and simulation conditions are kept identical. Shock boundary oscillations are observed in the simulation where the magnetic field direction is resolved. This oscillation is caused by the reformation of the shock front. One part of the front acts as a shock, while the other functions as a magnetic piston, with both halves changing their states in antiphase. The oscillation period corresponds to the time required for one shock wave to grow as the other collapses. In contrast, the corrugated fast magnetosonic shock does not oscillate in the second simulation, where the magnetic field is oriented out of the simulation plane. This dependence on magnetic field orientation suggests that the shock oscillation is induced by magnetic tension, which is only effective in the first simulation. In both simulations, the shock perturbation does not grow over time, indicating that the shocks are stable. The potential relevance of these findings for the Alfvénic oscillations of the supercritical Earth's bow shock, detected by the MMS multi-spacecraft mission, is also discussed.
title Oscillations of subcritical fast magnetosonic shock boundaries caused by shock reformation
topic Plasma Physics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.13434