Pitch-Angle Diffusion in the Earth’s Magnetosphere Organized by the Mozer-Transformed Coordinate System
In the Earth’s dipole magnetosphere finite-gyroradius effects produce a shift of the atmospheric loss cone away from the direction of the magnetic field. This loss-cone shift is theoretically described by the “Mozer transform”, which is based upon the curvature drift of particles crossing the equatorial plane. For positive ions the northern and southern loss cones both shift westward and for electrons the northern and southern loss cones both shift eastward. This loss-cone shift is part of a coordinate-system transform, with the transformed coordinates better organizing the behavior of particle orbits in the dipole magnetic field (e.g. first adiabatic invariants, mirror heights, and bounce times). In this report it is demonstrated that the transformed coordinate system also properly organizes pitch-angle diffusion. This improved organization of the diffusion is true whether the angular scattering is produced by plasma-wave scattering or by field-line-curvature (FLC) scattering. It is shown that FLC scattering and the loss cone shift are linked, so that if FLC scattering is occurring, there is a loss cone shifted away from the magnetic-field direction and the Mozer-transformed coordinates are needed.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- LDRD; NASA HERMES Interdisciplinary Science Program; NASA Heliophysics Guest Investigator Program; NASA Heliophysics LWS program; NSF GEM Program
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001
- OSTI ID:
- 1868303
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-21-31107
- Journal Information:
- Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, Journal Name: Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences Vol. 9; ISSN 2296-987X
- Publisher:
- Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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