Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2005 APS April Meeting
Saturday–Tuesday, April 16–19, 2005; Tampa, FL
Session R3: Space Plasmas |
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Sponsoring Units: DAP GPAP Chair: R. Paul Drake, University of Michigan Room: Marriott Tampa Waterside Grand Salon A/B |
Monday, April 18, 2005 10:45AM - 11:21AM |
R3.00001: Observations of Magnetic Reconnection in the Earth's Magnetosphere Invited Speaker: Magnetic reconnection is a universal plasma process which converts stored magnetic energy into fast flows and energetic particles. It is the most important process by which the solar wind enters the Earth’s magnetosphere where the solar wind energy is subsequently dissipated in auroras and magnetic storms. The magnetosphere provides a unique opportunity to study the reconnection process by in-situ measurements, thereby allowing quantitative comparison with theory. In this talk I will present highlights of recent findings on the large-scale consequences of reconnection in the magnetosphere, as well as fortuitous observations of microphysical processes in the minuscule diffusion region where reconnection takes place. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 18, 2005 11:21AM - 11:57AM |
R3.00002: Observations and theory of the heliosphere/interstellar medium interaction Invited Speaker: |
Monday, April 18, 2005 11:57AM - 12:33PM |
R3.00003: The structure of parallel electric fields in collisionless plasmas: ionosphere and magnetospheric observations Invited Speaker: It was long believed that electric fields parallel to the background magnetic field could not exist in a collisionless plasma. Ionospheric rocket observations of accelerated electrons in the Earth's aurora provided the first indirect evidence for the occurrence of a quasi-static parallel potential drop. The S3-3 satellite obtained the first direct measurements of the parallel electric field, including observations of solitary waves, double layers and oblique double layers. Data from the FAST and Polar satellites dramatically enhanced understanding of the structure of parallel electric fields in both the upward and downward field-aligned current regions in the auroral zone and their role in acceleration of electrons and ions to high energies. Parallel electric fields are also observed higher altitudes in the magnetosphere in association with narrow boundaries and with reconnection at the magnetopause and magnetotail. I will review satellite observations and recent simulations with a focus on the occurrence of large potential drops in small-scale size nonlinear structures and summarize our current understanding of parallel electric fields in the Earth's magnetosphere and implications for particle acceleration and dissipation processes in other astrophysical plasma systems. [Preview Abstract] |
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