Numerical Studies of Magnetospheric Dynamics & Related SpacePlasma Processes

数值模拟是研究空间等离子体物理的重要工具。这笔赠款用于继续研究耗散MHD和动力学理论中的激波和不连续性的性质，磁层的动力学，以及磁尾的无碰撞撕裂不稳定性。将使用混合粒子模拟和隐式粒子模拟来研究中间激波的动力学特性，并将使用越来越逼真的近地等离子体片模型来研究这种结构在地球磁尾日侧重联中的可能作用。主要目的将是了解如何以及何时在等离子体片先前存在的闭合场线内形成新的中性线。

Numerical simulations are important tools for the study of space plasma physics. This grant is for continued research support to study the properties of shock waves and discontinuities in dissipative MHD and kinetic theory, the dynamics of the magnetosphere, and collisionless tearing instability in the magnetotail. Hybrid and implicit particle simulations will be used to study the kinetic properties of intermediate shocks and the possible role of such structures in dayside reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail will be investigated using increasingly realistic models of the near Earth plasma sheet. The principal aim will be to understand how and when a new neutral line forms within the pre-existing closed field lines of the plasma sheet.