Parallel Electrostatic Waves Associated With Turbulent Plasma Mixing in the Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability

Wilder, F. D.; Schwartz, S. J.; Ergun, R. E.; Eriksson, S.; Ahmadi, N.; Chasapis, A.; Newman, D. L.; Burch, J. L.; Torbert, R. B.; Strangeway, R. J.; Giles, B. L.

doi:10.1029/2020gl087837

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…This is consistent with observations of the reconnecting dayside magnetopause, where the bulk of the plasma wave activity occurred on the magnetospheric side of the current sheet (Wilder et al, 2019). It is also similar to the Ion Acoustic Waves (IAWs) observed in the KHI by (Wilder et al, 2020), which seemed to occur on the magnetospheric side of the "vortex" intervals, though in that case, the waves occurred closer to B Y 0, in a region referred to as the "turbulent mixing region. "…”

Section: Solitary Wave Detector Statisticssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…This was the first KHI interval observed by MMS with enough periods to do statistical analysis of the instability. Previous studies of this event have shown magnetic reconnection on compressed current sheets (Eriksson et al, 2016a;Eriksson et al, 2016b), turbulence in the vortex-like intervals between the current sheets (Stawarz et al, 2016), and large-amplitude ion-acoustic waves in the plasma mixing regions on the magnetospheric side of the vortex-like intervals (Wilder et al, 2016a;Wilder et al, 2020).…”

Section: The 8 September 2015 Kelvin-helmholtz Eventmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Additionally, there is high variability in δB Y (RMS), though it does not quite reach the large values seen coincident with the compressed current sheets. This region is where the "vortex"-like structures in the KHI between the compressed current sheets exist, and has been shown to exhibit turbulent cascades and magnetic field intermittency (Stawarz et al, 2016), as well as the presence of large-amplitude ion acoustic waves where the magnetosphere-and magnetosheath-like plasma populations mix (Wilder et al, 2016a;Wilder et al, 2020).…”

Section: Event Overview and Time Domain Structure Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of periodic compressed current sheets in the equatorial plane were confirmed, with reconnection jets observed in ∼50% of the current sheets (Eriksson et al, 2016a) Additionally, between the compressed current sheets, the spectra of the magnetic field fluctuations showed a power law indicative of fully developed turbulence, as well as the presence of intermittent currents at small scales (Stawarz et al, 2016). There was also evidence for the mixing of multiple particle populations in the middle of the vortices, leading to strong ion-acoustic-like parallel electric field fluctuations that did not appear to be current-driven (Wilder et al, 2016a;Wilder et al, 2020). The study of another KHI event, on September 27, 2016, suggested that lower hybrid waves that arise during the instability could also facilitate the diffusion of plasma across the flank magnetopause (Tang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Occurrence and Prevalence of Time Domain Structures in the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at Different Positions Along the Earth’s Magnetospheric Flanks

Wilder

Ergun

Gove

et al. 2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) is thought to be an important driver for mass, momentum, and energy transfer between the solar wind and magnetosphere. This can occur through global-scale “viscous-like” interactions, as well as through local kinetic processes such as magnetic reconnection and turbulence. An important aspect of these kinetic processes for the dynamics of particles is the electric field parallel to the background magnetic field. Parallel electric field structures that can occur in the KHI include the reconnection electric field of high guide field reconnection, large amplitude ion acoustic waves, as well as time domain structures (TDS) such as double layers and electrostatic solitary waves. In this study, we present a survey of parallel electric field structures observed during three Kelvin Helmholtz events observed by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS), each at different positions along the magnetosphere’s dusk flank. Using data from MMS’s on-board solitary wave detector (SWD) algorithm, we statistically investigate the occurrence of TDS within the KHI events. We find that early in the KHI development, TDS typically occur in regions with strong field-aligned currents (FACs) on the magnetospheric side of the vortices. Further down the flanks, as the vortices become more rolled up, the prevalence of large electric currents decreases, as well as the prevalence of SWDs. These results suggest that as the instability develops and vortices grow in size along the flanks, kinetic-scale activity becomes less prevalent.

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Section: Solitary Wave Detector Statisticssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: The 8 September 2015 Kelvin-helmholtz Eventmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Event Overview and Time Domain Structure Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Occurrence and Prevalence of Time Domain Structures in the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at Different Positions Along the Earth’s Magnetospheric Flanks

Wilder

Ergun

Gove

et al. 2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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“…Notably, the mixing of the boundary layer and magnetosheath plasma populations within the vortices can lead to complex particle distribution functions and kinetic instabilities. Such behavior has been noted in particular through the examination of high-frequency electric field activity in the 8 September 2015 KHI (Wilder et al 2016(Wilder et al , 2020. Vortex-induced reconnection events are also know to be set up by the large-scale configuration of the system, both at mid-latitudes associated with twisted field lines above and below the KH vortices and at the compressed current sheets between the vortices (e.g., Nykyri & Otto 2001;Faganello et al 2012;Nakamura et al 2013;Eriksson et al 2016a;Vernisse et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Comparing turbulence in a Kelvin–Helmholtz instability region across the terrestrial magnetopause

Quijia

Fraternale

Stawarz

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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The properties of turbulence observed within the plasma originating from the magnetosheath and the magnetospheric boundary layer, which have been entrained within vortices driven by the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability (KHI), are compared. The goal of such a study is to determine similarities and differences between the two different regions. In particular, we study spectra, intermittency and the third-order moment scaling, as well as the distribution of a local energy transfer rate proxy. The analysis is performed using the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) data from a single satellite that crosses longitudinally the KHI. Two sets of regions, one set containing predominantly magnetosheath plasma and the other containing predominantly magnetospheric plasma, are analyzed separately, thus allowing us to explore turbulence properties in two portions of very different plasma samples. Results show that the turbulence in the two regions is different, with the boundary layer plasma including current structures that may not be originated by the turbulent cascade. This suggests that the observed turbulence is affected by the KHI.

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The Occurrence and Prevalence of Magnetic Reconnection in the Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability Under Various Solar Wind Conditions

Wilder,

King,

Gove

et al. 2023

JGR Space Physics

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As the shocked solar wind flows past the flank magnetopause, surface waves can form and roll up into flow vortices. This is known as the Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability, which is thought to be an important mechanism whereby energy and momentum are transferred from the solar wind into the magnetosphere. One mechanism whereby this can occur is magnetic reconnection in the equatorial plane on compressed current sheets between vortices. In 2015, the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission observed this form of in‐plane reconnection during a KHI event in the post‐noon sector of the dayside magnetopause. We use data from MMS to investigate 12 KHI events at different positions along the magnetospheric flanks. For each event, we identify periodic compressed current sheets and perform Walén tests for each to identify reconnection jets. We then investigate the fraction of current sheets that exhibit reconnection signatures, and refer to it as the “event ratio.” Results show that the event ratio decreases for events further down the magnetospheric flanks. Additionally, we investigate solar wind parameters during each event and find that the event ratio increases with an increasing northward component of the interplanetary magnetic field.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Parallel Electrostatic Waves Associated With Turbulent Plasma Mixing in the Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability

Cited by 8 publications

References 34 publications

The Occurrence and Prevalence of Time Domain Structures in the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at Different Positions Along the Earth’s Magnetospheric Flanks

The Occurrence and Prevalence of Time Domain Structures in the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at Different Positions Along the Earth’s Magnetospheric Flanks

Comparing turbulence in a Kelvin–Helmholtz instability region across the terrestrial magnetopause

The Occurrence and Prevalence of Magnetic Reconnection in the Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability Under Various Solar Wind Conditions

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