The Effect of Suprathermal Protons in the Heliosheath on the Global Structure of the Heliosphere and Heliotail
Abstract
In the interaction between the solar wind (SW) and the local interstellar medium, various processes create ions with energies up to ~10 keV that are out of thermal equilibrium with the "core" population. Wave–particle interactions tend to isotropize the velocity distributions, but the collisionless nature of the SW precludes thermalization. Suprathermal protons can charge-exchange with interstellar hydrogen, producing energetic neutral atoms that are seen by the Interstellar Boundary EXplorer spacecraft. We have developed a model for the presence of several suprathermal populations in the SW downstream of the heliospheric termination shock. The model uses magnetohydrodynamics to satisfy the first three moments of the total ion distribution, and couples these through charge-exchange to neutral hydrogen, conserving mass, momentum, and energy in the combined system. The proton population is separated into a cool core and three suprathermal populations, and hydrogen atoms may charge-exchange with protons from any of those four populations. The phase-space properties of the pick-up ions are selected based on data and theoretical considerations. In this paper we quantify the impact of suprathermal protons on the global structure of the heliosphere by comparing our new model to a traditional Maxwellian fluid model, and a kappa-distribution model. We find that themore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[1];
[1];
[3]
- Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville, AL (United States). Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research
- Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
- Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville, AL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1611036
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0008334; NNX16AG83G; NNX14AP24G; NNX14AJ53G; 80NSSC18K1649NS; NNX14AF43G
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online); Journal Volume: 874; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1538-4357
- Publisher:
- Institute of Physics (IOP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Astronomy & Astrophysics; ISM: atoms; solar wind; Sun: heliosphere
Citation Formats
Heerikhuisen, Jacob, Zirnstein, Eric J., Pogorelov, Nikolai V., Zank, Gary P., and Desai, Mihir. The Effect of Suprathermal Protons in the Heliosheath on the Global Structure of the Heliosphere and Heliotail. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab05e3.
Heerikhuisen, Jacob, Zirnstein, Eric J., Pogorelov, Nikolai V., Zank, Gary P., & Desai, Mihir. The Effect of Suprathermal Protons in the Heliosheath on the Global Structure of the Heliosphere and Heliotail. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab05e3
Heerikhuisen, Jacob, Zirnstein, Eric J., Pogorelov, Nikolai V., Zank, Gary P., and Desai, Mihir. Tue .
"The Effect of Suprathermal Protons in the Heliosheath on the Global Structure of the Heliosphere and Heliotail". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab05e3. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1611036.
@article{osti_1611036,
title = {The Effect of Suprathermal Protons in the Heliosheath on the Global Structure of the Heliosphere and Heliotail},
author = {Heerikhuisen, Jacob and Zirnstein, Eric J. and Pogorelov, Nikolai V. and Zank, Gary P. and Desai, Mihir},
abstractNote = {In the interaction between the solar wind (SW) and the local interstellar medium, various processes create ions with energies up to ~10 keV that are out of thermal equilibrium with the "core" population. Wave–particle interactions tend to isotropize the velocity distributions, but the collisionless nature of the SW precludes thermalization. Suprathermal protons can charge-exchange with interstellar hydrogen, producing energetic neutral atoms that are seen by the Interstellar Boundary EXplorer spacecraft. We have developed a model for the presence of several suprathermal populations in the SW downstream of the heliospheric termination shock. The model uses magnetohydrodynamics to satisfy the first three moments of the total ion distribution, and couples these through charge-exchange to neutral hydrogen, conserving mass, momentum, and energy in the combined system. The proton population is separated into a cool core and three suprathermal populations, and hydrogen atoms may charge-exchange with protons from any of those four populations. The phase-space properties of the pick-up ions are selected based on data and theoretical considerations. In this paper we quantify the impact of suprathermal protons on the global structure of the heliosphere by comparing our new model to a traditional Maxwellian fluid model, and a kappa-distribution model. We find that the differences in momentum and energy transfer rates from the protons onto neutral hydrogen between the models leads to different plasma properties in the heliotail, and also changes the size of the heliosphere. Including the energy-dependent charge-exchange cross section into the collision integrals reduces the magnitude of these differences.},
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ab05e3},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal (Online)},
number = 1,
volume = 874,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 26 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Tue Mar 26 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Interstellar Neutral Helium in the Heliosphere from IBEX Observations. VI. The He + Density and the Ionization State in the Very Local Interstellar Matter
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Interstellar neutral helium in the heliosphere from IBEX observations. VI. The He$^+$ density and the ionization state in the Very Local Interstellar Matter
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