Abstract
By means of the formation of vortices in the nonlinear phase, the Kelvin Helmholtz instability is able to redistribute the flux of energy of the solar wind that flows parallel to the magnetopause. The energy transport associated with the Kelvin Helmholtz instability contributes significantly to the magnetosphere and magnetosheath dynamics, in particular at the flanks of the magnetopause where the presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to the velocity flow does not inhibit the instability development. By means of a 2D two-fluid simulation code, the behavior of the Kelvin Helmholtz instability is investigated in the presence of typical conditions observed at the magnetopause. In particular, the energy penetration in the magnetosphere is studied as a function of an important parameter such as the solar wind velocity. The influence of the density jump at the magnetopause is also discussed.
Highlights
The environment around the Earth magnetopause represents an important natural laboratory for plasma physics, where multifaceted phenomena occur and interact in a not fully understood manner.The magnetopause is the interface between the static plasma of the magnetosphere and the shocked solar wind that flows in the magnetosheath
The magnetopause waves can be excited by the Kelvin Helmholtz (KH) instability due to the velocity shear layer generated between the solar wind and the magnetosphere
The results of two fluid simulations are presented on the KH instability that develops at the magnetopause conditions
Summary
The environment around the Earth magnetopause represents an important natural laboratory for plasma physics, where multifaceted phenomena occur and interact in a not fully understood manner.The magnetopause is the interface between the static plasma of the magnetosphere and the shocked solar wind that flows in the magnetosheath. When the interplanetary magnetic field lines related to the solar wind are antiparallel to that of the terrestrial field, reconnection phenomena act at the subsolar point with an injection of energy and mass from the solar wind to the magnetosphere During this phase a strong motion of the magnetopause is observed [1,2,3]. The KH instability may occur when there are two regions with a relative motion across a transition layer For its characteristics, this instability is ubiquitous in nature and it is involved in a large variety of problems in several fields of the physics. This instability is presented as a mechanism of saturation able to dissipate the energy related to the velocity shear layer
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