Kinetic slow mode-type solitons

K. Baumgärtel (1) , K. Sauer (2) , E. Dubinin (2)

1 AIP - Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam
2 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research

One-dimensional hybrid code simulations are presented, carried out in order both to study solitary waves of the slow mode branch in an isotropic, collisionless, medium-? plasma (?_i=0.25) and to test the fluid based soliton interpretation of Cluster observed strong magnetic depressions (Stasiewicz et al., 2003; Stasiewicz, 2004) against kinetic theory. In the simulations, a variety of strongly oblique, large amplitude, solitons are seen, including solitons with Alfvenic polarization, similar to those predicted by the Hall-MHD theory, and robust, almost non-propagating, solitary structures of slow magnetosonic type with strong magnetic field depressions and perpendicular ion heating, which have no counterpart in fluid theory. The results support the soliton-based interpretation of the Cluster observations, but reveal substantial deficiencies of Hall-MHD theory in describing slow mode-type solitons in a plasma of moderate beta.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]; Sciences de la Terre

K. Baumgärtel, K. Sauer, E. Dubinin. Kinetic slow mode-type solitons. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 2005, 12 (2), pp.291-298. ⟨hal-00302554⟩