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Problems related to macroscopic electric fields in the magnetosphere

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Abstract

The macroscopic electric fields in the magnetosphere originate from internal as well as external sources. The fields are intimately coupled with the dynamics of magnetospheric plasma convection. They also depend on the complicated electrical properties of the hot, collisionless plasma. Macroscopic electric fields are responsible for some important kinds of energization of charged particles that take place in the magnetosphere and affect not only particles of auroral energy but also, by multistep processes, trapped high-energy particles.

A particularly interesting feature of magnetospheric electric fields is the fact that they can have substantial components along the geomagnetic field. Several physical mechanisms have been identified by which such electric fields can be supported even when collisions between particles are negligible. Comments are made on the magnetic-mirror effect, anomalous resistivity, collisionless thermoelectric effect and electric double layers, emphasizing key features and differences and their significance in the light of recent observational data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Plasma Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Carl-Gunne Fälthammar

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  1. Carl-Gunne Fälthammar
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Paper dedicated to Professor Hannes Alfvén on the occasion of his 70th birthday, 30 May, 1978.

Reprinted, with due permission fromRev. Geophys. Space Phys. 15, (1977), 457

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Fälthammar, CG. Problems related to macroscopic electric fields in the magnetosphere. Astrophys Space Sci 55, 179–201 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00642588

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