Fahr, HJ;
Richardson, JD;
Verscharen, D;
(2015)
The electron distribution function downstream of the solar-wind termination shock: Where are the hot electrons?
Astronomy & Astrophysics
, 579
, Article A18. 10.1051/0004-6361/201525710.
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Abstract
In the majority of the literature on plasma shock waves, electrons play the role of “ghost particles”, since their contribution to mass and momentum flows is negligible, and they have been treated as only taking care of the electric plasma neutrality. In some more recent papers, however, electrons play a new important role in the shock dynamics and thermodynamics, especially at the solar-wind termination shock. They react on the shock electric field in a very specific way, leading to suprathermal nonequilibrium distributions of the downstream electrons, which can be represented by a kappa distribution function. In this paper, we discuss why this anticipated hot electron population has not been seen by the plasma detectors of the Voyager spacecraft downstream of the solar-wind termination shock. We show that hot nonequilibrium electrons induce a strong negative electric charge-up of any spacecraft cruising through this downstream plasma environment. This charge reduces electron fluxes at the spacecraft detectors to nondetectable intensities. Furthermore, we show that the Debye length λDκ grows to values of about λDκ/λD ≃ 106 compared to the classical value λD in this hot-electron environment. This unusual condition allows for the propagation of a certain type of electrostatic plasma waves that, at very large wavelengths, allow us to determine the effective temperature of the suprathermal electrons directly by means of the phase velocity of these waves. At moderate wavelengths, the electron-acoustic dispersion relation leads to nonpropagating oscillations with the ion-plasma frequency ωp, instead of the traditional electron plasma frequency.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The electron distribution function downstream of the solar-wind termination shock: Where are the hot electrons? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1051/0004-6361/201525710 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201525710 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | plasmas / Sun: heliosphere / solar wind / shock waves / instabilities |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10081140 |
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