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Birkeland Currents in Cosmic Plasma

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Physics of the Plasma Universe

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Abstract

An electromotive force ϕ = ∫ v × B⋅ dl giving rise to electrical currents in conducting media is produced wherever a relative perpendicular motion of plasma and magnetic field lines exist (Sect. 3.5.2). An example of this is the sunward convective motion of the magnetospheric plasma that cuts the earth’s dipole field lines through the equatorial plane, thereby producing a Lorentz force that drives currents within the auroral circuit. The tendency for charged particles to follow magnetic lines of force and therefore produce field-aligned currents has resulted in the widespread use of the term “Birkeland Currents” in space plasma physics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to Chen (1985): “In a plasma, it is usually possible to assume n i  = n e and ∇⋅ E ≠ 0 at the same time. We shall call this the plasma approximation. It is a fundamental trait of plasmas, one which is difficult for the novice to understand. Do not use Poisson’s equation to obtain E unless it is unavoidable!”

  2. 2.

    This equation differs from the Alfvén-Lawson limiting current, \(I_{\max } = I_{A}\beta ^{2}/\left [\beta ^{2} - 1 + f_{e}\right ]\), because of the differing ways in describing charge neutralization (Witalis 1981).

  3. 3.

    The dispersion relation for a beam of electrons propagating through a plasma is simply \(1 =\omega _{ p}^{2}/\omega ^{2} +\omega _{ b}^{2}/\left (\omega -kV _{b}^{2}\right )\). If the beam is relativistic ω b 2 is replaced by \(\omega _{b}^{2}/\gamma ^{3}\).

  4. 4.

    In the prescription for Landau damping (Chen 1984), if the electrons are traveling slower than and in the same direction as the wave, they take energy from it.

  5. 5.

    The dielectric medium of the Marx bank may be 300,000 L of transformer oil while the pulseline may contain 400,000 L of deionized water.

  6. 6.

    The term “plasmoid” was coined by W. Bostick (1956) to describe the force-free self-magnetic field carrying entities he experimented with.

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  1. Los Alamos, NM, USA

    Anthony L. Peratt

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Peratt, A.L. (2015). Birkeland Currents in Cosmic Plasma. In: Physics of the Plasma Universe. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7819-5_2

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