Nonlinear Particle Dynamics in the Magnetotail: A Laboratory Study 1. TheExperimental Configuration and Numerical Simulation

摘要

We have performed the initial stages of an experiment designed to investigateparticle dynamics in the magnetotail. The results of this experiment lend support to the idea that particle scattering from the magnetotail neutral sheet is not random but that there exist resonances in the number and direction of scattered particles as a function of energy. The effort began with construction and testing of the magnetic field configuration necessary to simulate the quitetime magnetotail field: a neutral sheet magnetic field profile B0(z)x with a superimposed normal field B(2)z. Once complete, electrons of variable energy were injected into the field region created and the scattered current collected by back-scattered and forward-scattered collection plates was analyzed as a function of electron energy. The experiment was used to test the hypothesis that single particle scattering from a neutral sheet type profile as described can be coherent and can, at times, demonstrate resonance effects as a function of energy. (AN).