Laser-plasma simulations of artificial magnetosphere formed by giant coronal mass ejections

• Published in: Astrophysics and space science Vol. 322; no. 1-4; pp. 151 - 154
• Main Authors: Zakharov, Yuri P., Ponomarenko, Arnold G., Vchivkov, Konstantin V., Horton, Wendell, Brady, Parrish
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-08-2009
• Subjects: Astrobiology; Astronomy; Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Cosmology; Observations and Techniques; Original Article; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Space Exploration and Astronautics; Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics; Chapman-Ferraro current; Magnetopause super-compression; Coronal mass ejection; Laser-produced plasma; Flute-like instability; Laboratory and PIC-simulations; Magnetic dipole
• ISSN: 0004-640X; 1572-946X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10509-009-0002-1

We employed the laboratory (Laser-Produced Plasmas, LPP) and numerical (3D/PIC-code) simulations to study the resulting state of very strong compression of magnetopause (MP) by CME with effective energy
E
0
≥10
34
ergs directed to the Earth. During probable formation of an Artificial Magnetosphere (AM,
in a flow of CME’ plasma around the Earth
) with the MP stand-off at
R
mp
up to (2–3)
R
E
, many catastrophic phenomena could occur in a space and ground networks due to very high curl electric fields induced by world-wide magnetic field’s changes with a SC-rate >50 nT/s. The laboratory models of AM (with
R
mp
∼0.1–30 cm) were formed around high-field, 1D and 3D magnetic obstacles, overflowing by LPP-blobs with
E
0
up to kJ and magnetized ions. The shape and internal structure of a large-scale AM were studied at KI-1 facility of the Russian team using a set of B-dot magnetic probes, while the main goal of UT’s small-AM experiment was to explore a possible shock’s generation and relevant electron acceleration. Preliminary results of KI-1 experiments show that the both
R
m
-size and SC (
E
0
) of AM could be described by modified Chapman-Ferraro Scaling, while the whole SC-distribution (in front “one-half” of equatorial plane)—by well-known “Image Dipole” model of the Earth’s magnetopause field.