GLOBAL EXPLICIT PARTICLE-IN-CELL SIMULATIONS OF THE NONSTATIONARY BOW SHOCK AND MAGNETOSPHERE

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal. Supplement series Vol. 225; no. 1; p. 13
• Main Authors: Yang, Zhongwei, Huang, Can, Liu, Ying D., Parks, George K., Wang, Rui, Lu, Quanming, Hu, Huidong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Astronomical Society 01.07.2016
• Subjects: ASTROPHYSICS; ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; DIPOLES; HIGH-BETA PLASMA; MAGNETIC RECONNECTION; MAGNETOPAUSE; MAGNETOSHEATH; Magnetospheres; MAGNETOTAIL; Normal shock waves; Particle in cell technique; plasmas; Sheaths; SHOCK WAVES; SIMULATION; SOLAR WIND; SPATIAL RESOLUTION; STELLAR MAGNETOSPHERES; TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
• ISSN: 0067-0049; 1538-4365
• DOI: 10.3847/0067-0049/225/1/13

ABSTRACT We carry out two-dimensional global particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction between the solar wind and a dipole field to study the formation of the bow shock and magnetosphere. A self-reforming bow shock ahead of a dipole field is presented by using relatively high temporal-spatial resolutions. We find that (1) the bow shock and the magnetosphere are formed and reach a quasi-stable state after several ion cyclotron periods, and (2) under the Bz southward solar wind condition, the bow shock undergoes a self-reformation for low βi and high MA. Simultaneously, a magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail is found. For high βi and low MA, the shock becomes quasi-stationary, and the magnetotail reconnection disappears. In addition, (3) the magnetopause deflects the magnetosheath plasmas. The sheath particles injected at the quasi-perpendicular region of the bow shock can be convected downstream of an oblique shock region. A fraction of these sheath particles can leak out from the magnetosheath at the wings of the bow shock. Hence, the downstream situation is more complicated than that for a planar shock produced in local simulations.