Heliopause Instabilities Driven by Plasma-Neutral Interaction: Linear Analysis from Fluid Model

Journal Article · Wed Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3625592· OSTI ID:21608319

Dasgupta, B; Avinash, K ^[1]; Florinski, V; Zank, G P; Heerikhuisen, J ^[2]; Bandyopadhyay, A ^[3]

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1. Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35805 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35805 (United States)
3. Department of Computer Science, Alabama A and M University, Normal, AL 35762 (United States)

The heliopause (HP) is the outer edge of the heliosphere that separates the tenuous and hot heliosheath plasma from the relatively dense and cool magnetized plasma of the local interstellar medium (LISM). As a surface of tangential discontinuity, the HP is subject to both Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) and Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instabilities. The coupling between plasma ions and neutral atoms through charge exchange provides an ''effective gravity'' for RT, while shear flows due to the velocity difference between the heliosheath and the interstellar flows can drive KH modes. We derive the linearized dispersion relations for waves propagating along the surface of this discontinuity using a fluid picture, to study the possibility for both RT and KH instabilities, including a second population of energetic neutrals produced by charge exchange interactions between the hot solar wind plasma in the heliosheath with interstellar hydrogen. We show that due to charge exchange interactions, the HP is unconditionally unstable to all perturbations.

• OSTI ID: 21608319
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1366, Issue 1; Conference: 2010 Huntsville workshop on partially ionized plasmas throughout the cosmos, Nashville, TN (United States), 3-8 Oct 2010; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3625592; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ATOMS
CHARGE EXCHANGE
CHARGE-EXCHANGE INTERACTIONS
COUPLING
DISPERSION RELATIONS
DISTURBANCES
GRAVITATION
HELIOSPHERE
HELMHOLTZ INSTABILITY
HYDRODYNAMICS
HYDROGEN
IONS
MAGNETIZATION
PLASMA
PLASMA FLUID EQUATIONS
PLASMA SHEATH
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
SHEAR
SOLAR WIND
ATMOSPHERES
BASIC INTERACTIONS
BOLTZMANN-VLASOV EQUATION
CHARGED PARTICLES
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELEMENTS
EQUATIONS
FLUID MECHANICS
INSTABILITY
INTERACTIONS
MECHANICS
NONMETALS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR ATMOSPHERE
STELLAR ACTIVITY
STELLAR ATMOSPHERES
STELLAR WINDS
STRONG INTERACTIONS