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The broadband excitation of 3D Alfvén resonances in a MHD waveguide

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Elsden_et_al_2018_JGeophysResSpacePhys.pdf (2.053Mb)
Date
01/2018
Author
Elsden, T.
Wright, A. N.
Keywords
Field line resonance
MHD waves
Alfven resonance
Mode coupling
Earth's magnetosphere
QB Astronomy
QC Physics
DAS
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Abstract
This paper considers the resonant coupling of fast and Alfvén magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. We perform numerical simulations of the time-dependent excitation of Alfvén resonances in a dipole magnetic field, with nonuniform density providing a 3-D equilibrium. Wright and Elsden (2016) showed that in such a system where the poloidal and toroidal Alfvén eigenfrequencies are different, the resonance can have an intermediate polarization, between poloidal and toroidal. We extend this work by driving the system with a broadband rather than monochromatic source. Further, we investigate the effect of azimuthal inhomogeneity on the resonance path. It is found that when exposed to a broadband driver, the dominant frequencies are the fast waveguide eigenfrequencies, which act as the drivers of Alfvén resonances. We demonstrate how resonances can still form efficiently with significant amplitudes, even when forced by the medium to have a far from toroidal polarization. Indeed, larger-amplitude resonances can be generated with an intermediate polarization, rather than purely toroidal, as a result of larger gradients in the magnetic pressure formed by the azimuthal inhomogeneity. Importantly, the resonance structure is shown to be independent of the different forms of driving, meaning their locations and orientations may be used to infer properties of the equilibrium. However, the amplitude of the FLRs are sensitive to the spatial structure and frequency spectrum of the magnetopause driving. These results have implications for the structure of field line resonances (FLRs) in Earth's magnetosphere, although the focus of this paper is on the underlying physics involved.
Citation
Elsden , T & Wright , A N 2018 , ' The broadband excitation of 3D Alfvén resonances in a MHD waveguide ' , Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics , vol. 123 , no. 1 , pp. 530-547 . https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA025018
Publication
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA025018
ISSN
2169-9402
Type
Journal article
Rights
©2018. American Geophysical Union. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA025018
Description
T. Elsden and A. N. Wright were funded by The Leverhulme Trust through Research Grant RPG-2016-071. A. N. Wright was also funded by STFC through Consolidated Grant ST/N000609/1. Data from simulation results are available on Figshare: https://figshare.com/authors/Tom_Elsden/4743264.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/15731

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