ORIGIN OF AURORAL PRIMARIES.

Abstract

The theory of the neutral sheet in the geomagnetic tail has reached the point where noise should be taken into account. The problem of the sheet is formidable, but is tractable assuming it can be treated as a boundary layer. There is no fundamental need for noise to occur, but the distribution function derived from previous work suggests that noise whould be generated. Because the sheet is so thin, radiation out from the sides might quench the instability. It has been shown that this radiation can be calculated in a straightforward way and some computations have been published. A method has also been developed for calculating the energy fed into waves from particles. An approximate method of evaluation, valid for all but the longest wavelengths, yields reasonably simple formulae, and the application of this method to electrostatic waves is described. Once a self-consistent model of the noise-free sheet has been set up, these methods are sufficient to determine the nature of any noise generated. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 1969
Accession Number
AD0702467

Entities

People

  • James W. Dungey

Organizations

  • Imperial College London

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Computations
  • Distribution Functions
  • Instability
  • Layers
  • Particles
  • Radiation
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Plasma Physics.
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.