Charged particle acceleration by intermittent electromagnetic turbulence

We studied the role of intermittency in the process of acceleration and transport of charged particles by electromagnetic turbulence. We propose a simple model of electromagnetic turbulence with a variable level of intermittency. The magnetic field is described as a superposition of an ensemble of m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2011-09, Vol.38 (17), p.n/a
Main Authors: Zelenyi, L. M., Rybalko, S. D., Artemyev, A. V., Petrukovich, A. A., Zimbardo, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceleration
Atmospheric sciences
Charged particles
Computational fluid dynamics
Earth Sciences
Fluid flow
Geophysics
Intermittency
Magnetic fields
Magnetism
magnetotail
Mathematical models
Nonlinear systems
Physics
Plasma physics
Sciences of the Universe
Space
Space Physics
Turbulence
Turbulent flow
turbulent transport and acceleration
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Summary:We studied the role of intermittency in the process of acceleration and transport of charged particles by electromagnetic turbulence. We propose a simple model of electromagnetic turbulence with a variable level of intermittency. The magnetic field is described as a superposition of an ensemble of magnetostatic plane waves and of spatially localized dynamic magnetic clouds. The amplitudes of magnetic clouds are distributed according to an intermittent map. The model approximates essential properties of turbulence observed ‘in situ’ in the neutral plane of the Earth's magnetotail. Numerical integration of charged particle trajectories in such a dynamic electromagnetic environment shows that, for the fixed time interval, the higher the level of intermittency, the higher the energy gain. Moreover, in a sufficiently intermittent turbulence, particle acceleration occurs without significant intensification of the spatial transport. Key Points Model of turbulence with regulated level of intermittency is developed The model approximates the properties of the turbulence observed in magnetotail In intermittent turbulence acceleration occurs w/o intensification of transport
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2011GL048983