Review of the CIV phenomenon

Abstract

Alfven's Critical Ionization Velocity (CIV) phenomenon is reviewed, with the main emphasis on comparisons between experimental and theoretical results. The review covers (1) the velocity measurements in laboratory experiments, (2) the effect of wall interaction, (3) the experimental and theoretical limits to the magnetic field strength and the neutral density, (4) ionospheric release experiments, (5) theoretical models for electron energization in comparison to experimental results, and (6) CIV models. All laboratory investigations of the CIV are found to obey the three following simple rules of thumb: (1) if the magnetic field is so strong that V A > 3V 0, and if there is enough neutral gas that the Townsend condition is fulfilled, then the CIV effect occurs, (2) when it occurs, the threshold velocity (or E/B value) is within ± 50% of Alfven's proposed value V c , and (3) for weaker magnetic fields, the effect gradually becomes irreproducible or weak and disappears altogether for V A < V 0. The theoretical understanding of the process has grown rapidly during the last decade, mainly due to the introduction of computer simulation models which have to a large degree confirmed and extended earlier analytical theories. The CIV mechanism is not due to one single plasma process, but to several different mechanisms which are applicable in different parameter regimes and geometries. The computer simulations have shown that in order to understand the mechanism properly it is necessary to consider a large number of interlocking collisional and plasma processes. The theoretical development has reached the stage where it should be possible to adapt computer simulation models to specific experiments and predict ionization rates, plasma flow velocities, E/B values, particle distributions, and wave spectra. Such models should for the first time provide a really firm basis for extrapolations of the CIV process to space applications.