Journal Articles (Physics)

1999

Tikhonchuk, V. T., Voronkov, I., Samson, J. C., Rankin, Robert

A model is presented that describes the excitation of density perturbations and parallel electric fields by standing shear Alfven waves on dipole fields in Earth's magnetosphere. The model includes the effects of electron inertia and gyro-kinetic dispersion, accounting for field-aligned...

1997

Tikhonchuk, V. T., Voronkov, I., Frycz, P., Samson, J. C., Rankin, Robert

The nonlinear dynamics of a shear flow and its subsequent evolution in the equatorial plane of the inner plasma sheet is studied. A linear analysis of the ideal MHD equations reveals a hybrid vortex instability which appears because of the coupling of Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) and Rayleigh-Taylor...

2003-01-01

Marchand, Richard, Rankin, Robert, Wanliss, J. , Tikhonchuk, V. T., Lu, J. Y.

Using a new two- dimensional nonlinear finite element model, we investigate the interaction of dispersive shear Alfven wave ( SAW) field line resonances ( FLRs) and ion acoustic waves in Earth's magnetosphere. We solve the full set of nonlinear reduced MHD equations self- consistently in...

1997

Samson, J. C., Rankin, Robert, Voronkov, I., Tikhonchuk, V. T.

The effect of the ponderomotive force (PF) on the temporal evolution of shear Alfven field line resonances (FLRs) is considered for a magnetic dipole geometry appropriate to the Earth's magnetosphere. We derive a set of equations which describes the coupling of shear Alfven and slow mode waves...

1994

Tikhonchuk, V. T., Frycz, P., Samson, J. C., Rankin, Robert

We present theory and numerical simulations of strong nonlinear effects in standing shear Alfven waves (SAWs) in the Earth's magnetosphere, which is modeled as a finite size box with straight magnetic lines and (partially) reflecting boundaries. In a low beta plasma it is shown that the...

1998

Rankin, Robert, Tikhonchuk, V. T.

We describe nonlinear resonance absorption of compressional Alfven waves in a model magnetosphere. It is shown that the ponderomotive force of excited standing shear Alfven waves can lead to nonlinear saturation and spatial structuring of field line resonances and that in low-beta plasmas...

2003

Tikhonchuk, V. T., Prakash, M., Rankin, Robert

The structure of auroral arcs sustained by field line resonances (FLRs) is determined using a model that describes the interplay between ionospheric feedback, nonlinear, and dispersive effects in a curvilinear geomagnetic topology. The model includes modulation of Pedersen conductance by hundreds...

1999

Tikhonchuk, V. T., Voronkov, I., Samson, J. C., Rankin, Robert

The three-dimensional, nonlinear evolution of a shear how (or Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH)) instability driven by a large-amplitude shear Alfven wave (SAW) in the Earth's magnetosphere is studied by using numerical solutions to the complete set of ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations. An initial setup is...