Short Large-amplitude Magnetic Structures Research Articles

Short large-amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) at Mercury observed by MESSENGER

Abstract. We present the first observations of short large-amplitude magnetic structures (denoted SLAMS) at Mercury. We have investigated approximately 4 years of MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) data to identify SLAMS in the Mercury foreshock. Defining SLAMS as magnetic field compressional structures, with an increase in magnetic field strength of at least twice the background magnetic field strength, when MESSENGER is located in the solar wind, we find 435 SLAMS. The SLAMS are found either in regions of a general ultra-low frequency (ULF) wave field, at the boundary of such a ULF wave field, or in a few cases isolated from the wave field. We present statistics on several properties of the SLAMS, such as temporal scale size, amplitude, and the presence of whistler-like wave emissions. We find that SLAMS are mostly found during periods of low interplanetary magnetic field strength, indicating that they are more common for higher solar wind Alfvénic Mach number (MA). We use the Tao solar wind model to estimate solar wind parameters to verify that MA is indeed larger during SLAMS observations than otherwise. Finally, we also investigate how SLAMS observations are related to foreshock geometry.

Characteristics of Foreshock Subsolar Compressive Structures

AbstractThe turbulent foreshock region upstream of the quasi‐parallel bow shock is dominated by waves and reflected particles that interact with each other and create a large number of different foreshock transients. The structures with the enhanced magnetic field, Short Large Amplitude Magnetic Structures, and density spikes named plasmoids are frequently observed. They are one of the suggested sources of transient flux enhancements or jets in the magnetosheath. Using measurements of the Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft (MMS) and OMNI solar wind database between the 2015 and 2018 years, we have found that there is a category of events exhibiting both magnetic field and density enhancements simultaneously and we introduce the term “mixed structures” for them. Consequently, we divided our set of observations into three groups of events and present their comparative statistical analysis in the subsolar foreshock. Based on our results and previous research, we discuss the properties, possible origin and occurrence rates of these events under different upstream conditions and their possible relation to the jet and plasmoid formation in the magnetosheath.

Shocklets and Short Large Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS) in the High Mach Foreshock of Venus

AbstractShocklets and short large‐amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) are steepened magnetic fluctuations commonly found in Earth's upstream foreshock. Here we present Venus Express observations from the 26th of February 2009 establishing their existence in the steady‐state foreshock of Venus, building on a past study which found SLAMS during a substantial disturbance of the induced magnetosphere. The Venusian structures were comparable to those reported near Earth. The 2 Shocklets had magnetic compression ratios of 1.23 and 1.34 with linear polarization in the spacecraft frame. The 3 SLAMS had ratios between 3.22 and 4.03, two of which with elliptical polarization in the spacecraft frame. Statistical analysis suggests SLAMS coincide with unusually high solar wind Alfvén mach‐number at Venus (12.5, this event). Thus, while we establish Shocklets and SLAMS can form in the stable Venusian foreshock, they may be rarer than at Earth. We estimate a lower limit of their occurrence rate of ≳14%.

Observation of SLAMS‐Like Structures Close to Martian Aphelion by MAVEN

AbstractAccording to various orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), the planetary shock can be either quasi‐parallel or quasi‐perpendicular. Under quasi‐parallel conditions a significant number of solar wind suprathermal particles are reflected from the shock and drift along IMF, forming an extended and highly turbulent region called the foreshock where various nonlinear plasma phenomena are observed. In this research, a case study of the structures in the foreshock region at Mars as observed by Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution is performed close to Martian aphelion, when the foreshock wave activity is usually low. Data from plasma analyzer STATIC and magnetometer MAG is used to analyze ion beams angular spectrum and magnetic field dynamics. It is shown that the observed structures are consistent with Short Large‐Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS), commonly detected in foreshock regions of magnetized and unmagnetized bodies throughout the Solar system. Finally, the Alfven Mach number is calculated to analyze characteristics of the observed foreshock structures. The analysis shows that the observed SLAMS‐like structures at Mars are steepened waves formed by the ion cyclotron resonance between plasma waves propagating along the IMF and the back‐streaming scattered solar wind H+ and exospheric O+ and O2+ ions, with the dominant impact of O+ ions. The steepening process is accompanied with observation of gradients in the diffuse ion density near the bowshock, like it has been previously reported near the Earth (e.g., Scholer, 1993, https://doi.org/10.1029/92JA01875; Tsubouchi & Lembege, 2004, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JA010014).

Quasi-Parallel Shock Reformation Seen by Magnetospheric Multiscale and Ion-Kinetic Simulations.

Shock waves in collisionless plasmas are among the most efficient particle accelerators in space. Shock reformation is a process important to plasma heating and acceleration, but direct observations of reformation at quasi‐parallel shocks have been lacking. Here, we investigate Earth's quasi‐parallel bow shock with observations by the four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft. The multi‐spacecraft observations provide evidence of short large‐amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) causing reformation of the quasi‐parallel shock. We perform an ion‐kinetic Vlasiator simulation of the bow shock and show that SLAMS reforming the bow shock recreates the multi‐spacecraft measurements. This provides a method for identifying shock reformation in the future.

Solitary Magnetic Structures at Quasi‐Parallel Collisionless Shocks: Formation

AbstractSolitary magnetic structures known as SLAMS (short large‐amplitude magnetic structures) have been considered as essential elements of collisionless shocks with quasi‐parallel geometries. Yet the physics underlying their formation remains an open question. In this paper, we use measurements from the magnetospheric multiscale mission combined with fully kinetic simulations to study the formation of SLAMS. We find that gyro‐resonance between solar wind ions and right‐hand circularly polarized electromagnetic waves results in magnetic field amplification. Gyro‐trapping by the growing magnetic field buildup the plasma density that further enhances the current and field. The solitary nature of SLAMS stems from a beat‐like magnetic field envelope where the maximum sets the initial location for nonlinear growth. Our results present a conceptual advance on SLAMS, and may shed new light on the open question of magnetic field amplification at astrophysical shocks.

Ion-scale Current Structures in Short Large-amplitude Magnetic Structures

Abstract We investigate electric current structures in Short Large-Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS) in the terrestrial ion foreshock region observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. The structures with intense currents ( ) have scale lengths comparable to the local ion inertial length (d i). One current structure type is a current sheet due to the magnetic field rotation of the SLAMS, and a subset of these current sheets can exhibit reconnection features including the electron outflow jet and X-line-type magnetic topology. The d i-scale current sheet near the edge of a SLAMS propagates much more slowly than the overall SLAMS, suggesting that it may result from compression. The current structures also exist as magnetosonic whistler waves with f ci < f < f lh, where f ci and f lh are the ion cyclotron frequency and the lower-hybrid frequency, respectively. The field rotations in the current sheets and whistler waves generate comparable and energy conversion rates. Electron heating is clearly observed in one whistler packet embedded in a larger-scale current sheet of the SLAMS, where the parallel electric field and the curvature drift opposite to the electric field energize electrons. The results give insight about the thin current structure generation and energy conversion at thin current structures in the shock transition region.

Observations of short large amplitude magnetic structures at the Kronian bow shock

We present observations of Short Large Amplitude Magnetic Structures (SLAMS) upstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock of Saturn. Cassini surveyed the quasi-parallel bow shock regime during 2004 and 2005, and from this time period we chose four events for a detailed study. For our analysis we used the measurements of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) and the Magnetometer (MAG).Locally the SLAMS act as a fast mode shock wave, and we observed possible ion beam reflection, multiple beams, deceleration and plasma heating of the solar wind protons. These features are in agreement with the near Earth observations. We also detected whistler precursor waves multiple times, which was also documented in studies of the Earth's foreshock region. Since the frequency of the upstream ULF waves detected at Saturn is lower than it is at Earth, it also has an effect on the spatial extension of the SLAM structures, which arise from these waves. With only one spacecraft's measurements it is not possible to study the SLAMS with the same efficiency as with the four-point measurements of the CLUSTER probes, but the basic observational features and the description of their evolutional characteristics are summarized.

Shocks in collisionless plasmas

The Earth’s bow shock is the best-known collisionless shock in space. Although much is known about the bow shock, the mechanisms of heating and thermalization processes still remain poorly understood. Collisionless shocks are different from ordinary fluid shocks, because a fraction of the incident solar wind is reflected from the bow shock and the transmitted particles are not immediately thermalized. The reflected particles interact with the incident solar wind producing waves and instabilities that can heat and accelerate particles to high energies. Some of the waves can grow to large amplitudes such as Short Large Amplitude Magnetic Structures. Other upstream nonlinear structures include hot flow anomalies and density holes. The upstream nonlinear structures subsequently convect Earthward with the SW and could impact the structure and dynamics of the bow shock. These observations have clearly indicated that the upstream dynamics are an integral part of the bow shock system. Although much has been learned about the behavior of Earth’s bow shock dynamics from the existing data, many fundamental questions remain not answered. This article will review observations of ion dynamics of Earth’s bow shock system, what we have learned from recent and past observations. We provide new perspectives from multi-spacecraft Cluster observations about the spatial and temporal variations including the fundamental shock heating, acceleration, and entropy generation processes.

Structure, dynamics, and seasonal variability of the Mars‐solar wind interaction: MAVEN Solar Wind Ion Analyzer in‐flight performance and science results

AbstractWe report on the in‐flight performance of the Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA) and observations of the Mars‐solar wind interaction made during the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) prime mission and a portion of its extended mission, covering 0.85 Martian years. We describe the data products returned by SWIA and discuss the proper handling of measurements made with different mechanical attenuator states and telemetry modes, and the effects of penetrating and scattered backgrounds, limited phase space coverage, and multi‐ion populations on SWIA observations. SWIA directly measures solar wind protons and alpha particles upstream from Mars. SWIA also provides proxy measurements of solar wind and neutral densities based on products of charge exchange between the solar wind and the hydrogen corona. Together, upstream and proxy observations provide a complete record of the solar wind experienced by Mars, enabling organization of the structure, dynamics, and ion escape from the magnetosphere. We observe an interaction that varies with season and solar wind conditions. Solar wind dynamic pressure, Mach number, and extreme ultraviolet flux all affect the bow shock location. We confirm the occurrence of order‐of‐magnitude seasonal variations of the hydrogen corona. We find that solar wind Alfvén waves, which provide an additional energy input to Mars, vary over the mission. At most times, only weak mass loading occurs upstream from the bow shock. However, during periods with near‐radial interplanetary magnetic fields, structures consistent with Short Large Amplitude Magnetic Structures and their wakes form upstream, dramatically reconfiguring the Martian bow shock and magnetosphere.

ION INJECTION AT QUASI-PARALLEL SHOCKS SEEN BY THE CLUSTER SPACECRAFT

ABSTRACT Collisionless shocks in space plasma are known to be capable of accelerating ions to very high energies through diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). This process requires an injection of suprathermal ions, but the mechanisms producing such a suprathermal ion seed population are still not fully understood. We study acceleration of solar wind ions resulting from reflection off short large-amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMSs) in the quasi-parallel bow shock of Earth using in situ data from the four Cluster spacecraft. Nearly specularly reflected solar wind ions are observed just upstream of a SLAMS. The reflected ions are undergoing shock drift acceleration (SDA) and obtain energies higher than the solar wind energy upstream of the SLAMS. Our test particle simulations show that solar wind ions with lower energy are more likely to be reflected off the SLAMS, while high-energy ions pass through the SLAMS, which is consistent with the observations. The process of SDA at SLAMSs can provide an effective way of accelerating solar wind ions to suprathermal energies. Therefore, this could be a mechanism of ion injection into DSA in astrophysical plasmas.

GYROSURFING ACCELERATION OF IONS IN FRONT OF EARTH's QUASI-PARALLEL BOW SHOCK

It is well known that shocks in space plasmas can accelerate particles to high energies. However, many details of the shock acceleration mechanism are still unknown. A critical element of shock acceleration is the injection problem; i.e., the presence of the so called seed particle population that is needed for the acceleration to work efficiently. In our case study, we present for the first time observational evidence of gyroresonant surfing acceleration in front of Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock resulting in the appearance of the long-suspected seed particle population. For our analysis, we use simultaneous multi-spacecraft measurements provided by the Cluster spacecraft ion (CIS), magnetic (FGM), and electric field and wave instrument (EFW) during a time period of large inter-spacecraft separation distance. The spacecraft were moving toward the bow shock and were situated in the foreshock region. The results show that the gyroresonance surfing acceleration takes place as a consequence of interaction between circularly polarized monochromatic (or quasi-monochromatic) transversal electromagnetic plasma waves and short large amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMSs). The magnetic mirror force of the SLAMS provides the resonant conditions for the ions trapped by the waves and results in the acceleration of ions. Since wave packets with circular polarization and different kinds of magnetic structures are very commonly observed in front of Earth's quasi-parallel bow shock, the gyroresonant surfing acceleration proves to be an important particle injection mechanism. We also show that seed ions are accelerated directly from the solar wind ion population.

Shocklets, SLAMS, and field‐aligned ion beams in the terrestrial foreshock

We present Wind spacecraft observations of ion distributions showing field‐aligned beams (FABs) and large‐amplitude magnetic fluctuations composed of a series of shocklets and short large‐amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS). The FABs are found to have Tb ~ 80 − 850 eV, Vb/Vsw ~ 1. 3 − 2. 4, T⊥,b/T∥,b ~ 1–8, and nb/no ~ 0.2–11%. Saturation amplitudes for ion/ion resonant and non‐resonant instabilities are too small to explain the observed SLAMS amplitudes. We show two examples where groups of SLAMS can act like a local quasi‐perpendicular shock reflecting ions to produce the FABs, a scenario distinct from the more common production at the quasi‐perpendicular bow shock. The SLAMS exhibit a foot‐like magnetic enhancement with a leading magnetosonic whistler train, consistent with previous observations. Strong ion and electron heating are observed within the series of shocklets and SLAMS with temperatures increasing by factors ≳ 5 and ≳ 3, respectively. Both the core and halo electron components show strong perpendicular heating inside the feature.

Short large‐amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) at Venus

We present the first observation of magnetic fluctuations consistent with short large‐amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) in the foreshock of the planet Venus. Three monolithic magnetic field spikes were observed by theVenus Expresson 11 April 2009. The structures were ∼1.5–11 s in duration, had magnetic compression ratios between ∼3 and 6, and exhibited elliptical polarization. These characteristics are consistent with the SLAMS observed at Earth, Jupiter, and Comet Giacobini‐Zinner, and thus we hypothesize that it is possible SLAMS may be found at any celestial body with a foreshock.

On nonlinear waves in Hall–MHD plasma

AbstractLow-frequency magnetic field fluctuations are observed in space plasmas, e.g. as upstream waves at the Earth's bow shock. Such upstream waves can steepen into very large amplitude wave phenomena, e.g. short large-amplitude magnetic structures (or SLAMS for short), shocklets or discrete wave packets. Such observations motivated us to study the nonlinear behavior of low-frequency and large-amplitude plasma waves in terms of the full nonlinear Hall–MHD framework. In the case of stationary (nonlinear) waves, the Hall–MHD equations can be rewritten in the so-called Sakai–Sonnerup system of equations that describe this plasma state and provide oscillatory and solitary types of solutions. An overall parameter study on the polarization characteristics, together with the magnetic field components and density variations of the different ranges of solutions, is presented here. These results can be further on applied to the theoretical treatment of particle interaction with such waves, e.g. at shocks in space plasmas, possibly leading to particle acceleration.

Nonadiabatic interaction between a charged particle and an MHD pulse

Abstract. Interaction between a magnetohydrodynamic~(MHD) pulse and a charged particle is discussed both numerically and theoretically. Charged particles can be accelerated efficiently in the presence of spatially correlated MHD waves, such as short large amplitude magnetic structures, by successive mirror reflection (Fermi process). In order to understand this process, we study the reflection probability of particles by the MHD pulses, focusing on the adiabaticity on the particle motion. When the particle velocity is small (adiabatic regime), the probability that the particle is reflected by the MHD pulse is essentially determined only by the pitch angle, independent from the velocity. On the other hand, in the non-adiabatic regime, the reflection probability is inversely proportional to the square root of the normalized velocity. We discuss our numerical as well as analytical results of the interaction process with various pulse amplitude, pulse shape, and the pulse winding number. The reflection probability is universally represented as a power law function independent from above pulse properties.

On the physics of collisionless shocks: Cluster investigations and simulations

Collisionless shocks can be found in many astrophysical settings but the Earth's environment is easiest to access. The foreshock region of the Earth's bow shock is populated by a variety of waves and particle populations allowing us to study wave–particle interactions. In the parallel and quasi-parallel regime short large amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) and their properties have been investigated. At the perpendicular and quasi-perpendicular shocks, advances have been made in ion reflection, thermalization and ion acceleration using Cluster data. Interplanetary disturbances cause temporal and spatial variations at the Earth's bow shock that in turn trigger a variety of processes. Magnetic reconnection in the tail region is one of them. In reconnection, heating and acceleration occur mainly in the slow-mode shocks, which bound the reconnection wedge. The Cluster mission, related simulation and theoretical considerations provided many new insights into the above-mentioned topics.

Multiscale, multipoint measurements from Cluster: Advancing our scientific understanding of geospace

Cluster is the first multispacecraft mission with identical instrumentation designed to resolve spatial and temporal structures in geospace. The orbits of the four Cluster spacecraft are variable and are adjusted periodically to place the spacecraft into configurations that optimize the three-dimensional capabilities of the instrumentation. During the mission, the relative distances between the spacecraft achieved so far have ranged from 100 to 5000 km. In the summer of 2005, the maximum separations were increased to 10,000 km. The primary results of Cluster include: determining the spatial scales of such transient three-dimensional phenomena as the short large amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) ahead of the parallel bow shock, the scale of Earth’s bow shock, the properties of bursty bulk flows in the plasmasheet, detailed measurements of the diffusion regions characteristic of magnetic reconnection events both in the magnetotail, at the magnetopause, and in the dayside polar cusps, and determinations of the source locations of both continuum radiation and auroral kilometric radiation. Space restrictions only permit a subset of those results to be mentioned.

Acceleration of charged particles by gyroresonant surfing at quasi-parallel shocks

We discuss an acceleration mechanism of charged particles by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) structures, such as quasi-parallel shocks and short-large amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS). In the presence of electromagnetic waves and an electrostatic electric field, particles are accelerated efficiently in the perpendicular direction to the background magnetic field by the combination of two effects, the trapping of particles by the wave and the dragging by the electrostatic field to keep the resonance condition. This allows particles to propagate downstream even when they initially have smaller kinetic energy than the potential. We show the fundamental properties of this mechanism, referred to as gyroresonant surfing.

Gyroresonant Surfing Acceleration

We discuss a new acceleration or energization mechanism of charged particles in space and astrophysical plasmas. In the presence of an electrostatic potential gradient and a circularly polarized electromagnetic monochromatic wave, particles are accelerated efficiently by keeping cyclotron resonance with the wave due to the electrostatic dragging force. In addition, particles can propagate against the electrostatic potential even if they have smaller parallel energy. This mechanism is potentially widely applicable, in terms of particle acceleration and transport, to various space and astrophysical phenomena, such as shock environment and short-large amplitude magnetic structures. We introduce the basic physical process of the acceleration or energization mechanism theoretically and numerically.