Oblique Electrostatic Solitary and Supersolitary Waves in Earth’s Magnetosheath

Abstract

Nonlinear electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) are routinely detected at various regions of Earth’s magnetosphere using the Wideband Data plasma wave receivers mounted on board the Cluster satellite(s). This mission has facilitated the observation and analysis of ESW characteristics, such as amplitude and temporal duration within the magnetosheath, while concurrently determining the density and temperature profiles of energetic electrons. These electron parameters, in conjunction with data from ion experiments, have served as input for the ion-acoustic solitary wave model developed in this article, with the ambition to contribute to the understanding of ESW generation mechanisms. Assuming as the starting point a plasma system comprising inertial ion fluid and kappa-distributed electron populations of different temperatures (i.e., “cold” and “hot” electrons), a nonperturbative approach has been adopted to investigate the existence and properties of solitary waves. A thorough parametric investigation has scrutinized the existence conditions for such localized structures in terms of the plasma configuration parameters. An interesting aspect emerges from the analysis, namely, the possibility for the coexistence of positive and negative polarity structures associated with ion-acoustic modes, in fact, manifested as simultaneously occurring positive polarity supersolitary waves and negative polarity regular solitary waves. Furthermore, our study has investigated the combined effect of the magnetic field strength, electron density, and suprathermal electron statistics on wave dynamics. The outcomes of this research are in agreement with observed electrostatic wave phenomena in the magnetosheath region, thus underscoring the intrinsic relevance of electrostatic supersolitary structures in data obtained by Cluster and other satellite missions.

Keywords

• Plasma physics
• Space plasmas