Nonthermal Radiation Mechanisms

In this paper we review the possible radiation mechanisms for the observed non-thermal emission in clusters of galaxies, with a primary focus on the radio and hard X-ray emission. We show that the difficulty with the non-thermal, non-relativistic Bremsstrahlung model for the hard X-ray emission, first pointed out by Petrosian (Astrophys. J. 557, 560, 2001) using a cold target approximation, is somewhat alleviated when one treats the problem more exactly by including the fact that the background plasma particle energies are on average a factor of 10 below the energy of the non-thermal particles. This increases the lifetime of the non-thermal particles, and as a result decreases the extreme energy requirement, but at most by a factor of three. We then review the synchrotron and so-called inverse Compton emission by relativistic electrons, which when compared with observations can constrain the value of the magnetic field and energy of relativistic electrons. This model requires a low value of the magnetic field which is far from the equipartition value. We briefly review the possibilities of gamma-ray emission and prospects for GLAST observations. We also present a toy model of the non-thermal electron spectra that are produced by the acceleration mechanisms discussed in an accompanying paper Petrosian and Bykov (Space Sci. Rev., 2008, this issue, Chap. 11).     

Theoretical model of steady-state magnetic reconnection in collisionless incompressible plasma based on the Grad–Shafranov equation solution

The problem of steady-state magnetic reconnection in an infinite current layer in collisionless, incompressible, nonresistive plasma, except of the electron diffusion region, is examined analytically using the electron Hall magnetohydrodynamics approach. It is found that this approach allows reducing the problem to the magnetic field potential finding, while last one has to satisfy the Grad–Shafranov equation. The obtained solution demonstrates all essential Hall reconnection features, namely proton acceleration up to Alfvén velocities, the forming of Hall current systems and the magnetic field structure expected. It turns out that the necessary condition of steady-state reconnection to exist is an electric field potential jump across the electron diffusion region and the separatrices. Besides, the powerful mechanism of electron acceleration in X-line direction is required. It must accelerate electrons up to the electron Alfvén velocity inside the diffusion region and on the separatrixes. This is a necessary condition for steady-state reconnection as well.     

Substorm activity during the main phase of magnetic storms induced by the CIR and ICME events

In this work, the relation of high-latitude indices of geomagnetic activity (AE, Kp) with the rate of storm development and a solar wind electric field during the main phase of magnetic storm induced by the CIR and ICME events is investigated. 72 magnetic storms induced by CIR and ICME events have been selected. It is shown that for the CIR and ICME events the increase of average value of the Kp index (Kp_aver) is observed with the growth of rate of storm development. The value of Kp_aver index correlates with the magnitude of minimum value of Dst index (|Dst_min|) only for the ICME events. The analysis of average values of AE and Kp indices during the main phase of magnetic storm depending on the SW electric field has shown that for the CIR events, unlike the ICME events, the value of AE_aver increases with the growth of average value of the electric field (Esw_aver). The value of Kp_aver correlates with the Esw_aver only for the ICME events. The relation between geomagnetic indices and the maximum value of SW electric field (Esw_max) is weak. However, for the ICME events Kp_aver correlates with Esw_max.     

Magnetic coupling of the Sun–Earth system – The view from STEREO

The STEREO mission, launched on October 25 2006, will provide the first stereoscopic view of the Sun and its magnetic environment. A suite of identical instruments on two continuously separating spacecraft will monitor the onset of solar eruptive phenomena, and track them as the shocks and ejected material propagate through the interplanetary medium (IPM). The combination of remote sensing and in situ instrumentation will provide new insights into the onset of eruptions, the extent of their effects on the global structure of the low corona, and their subsequent evolution through the IPM. These observations will provide new constraints on the processes involved and allow us to distinguish between competing models of eruptive solar phenomena.     

A heuristic design method for attitude stabilization of magnetic actuated satellites

In this paper a heuristic design strategy for stabilizing the satellite attitude has been proposed. It is assumed that the satellite is actuated by a set of mutually perpendicular magnetic coils. Using well-known Lyapunov direct stability method it is shown that the proposed controller causes to a global asymptotic stable system for all near polar orbits. The design procedure is based on analyzing of the conceptual effects of magnetic coils on the satellite attitude motion. Considering these effects lead to some intuitive results which determine the global stabilizing control law. The performance and robustness of the designed controller against actuators saturation and quantization error have been verified using a real-time-hardware–software in-loop (RTHSIL) simulation results. These results show that the global stability can be achieved although some disturbances and restrictions exist. This stabilizing controller can be simply combined with a linear explicit model predictive controller (EMPC) to achieve a full three-axis control law.     

Numerical simulation of equatorial plasma bubbles over Cachimbo: COPEX campaign

The problem of day-to-day variability in onset of equatorial spread F (ESF) is addressed using data from the 2002 COPEX observational campaign in Brazil and numerical modeling. The observational results show that for values of virtual height of the F layer base less than 355 km at around 18:35 LT, and for the prereversal peak enhancement of the vertical plasma drift (Vp) less than 30 m/s, the spread-F (ESF) was absent on four nights over Cachimbo (9.5°S, 54.8°W, dip latitude = −2.1°). In this work we analyze the geophysical conditions for the generation of the irregularities by comparing the nights with and without the ESF. In the comparison a numerical code is used to simulate plasma irregularity development in an extended altitude range from the bottom of the equatorial F   layer. The code uses the flux corrected transport method with Boris–Book’s flux limiter for the spatial integration and a predictor–corrector method for the direct time integration of the continuity equation for O⁺${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ and the SOR (Successive-Over-Relaxation) method for electric potential equation. The code is tested with different evening eastward electric fields (or vertical drifts Vp < 30 m/s and Vp > 30 m/s) in order to study the influence of the prereversal enhancement in the zonal electric field on plasma bubble formation and development. The code also takes into account the zonal wind, the vertical electric field and the collision frequency of ions with neutrals and the amplitude of initial perturbation. The simulation shows a good agreement with the observational results of the ESF. The results of the code suggest that the instability can grow at the F layer bottomside by the Rayleigh–Taylor mechanism only when the Vp > 30 m/s. In the analyzed cases we have considered the competition of other geophysical parameters in the generation of plasma structures.     

一种无需轴对准的磁罗盘正交度测试方法

给出了一种可自动化的测试双轴磁传感器正交角度的方法：正交磁场法,该方法操作简便,无需被测传感器的精密装夹;整个测量过程中没有装配操作,完全消除了由于装配的不一致性带来的误差。与常用的磁矢量投影法相比较,本方法可较快地测得双轴磁传感器的正交度,且达到较高的精度。     

卫星磁部件分布对梯度法消除剩磁的影响分析

在工程实施中双探头梯度法的误差系数只能达到0.5~0.3,意味着只能消除50%~70%的卫星剩磁干扰。文章研究双探头梯度法消除卫星本体剩磁的原理和工程上双探头梯度法的误差来源,并分析了卫星剩磁部件的分布对磁心的影响,以及磁心与双探头位置的关系在双探头梯度法中的关键作用。当磁心位置确定,并且双探头安装连线通过磁心,双探头梯度法的处理误差能够实现最小化。仿真试验表明,在优化剩磁部件分布和双探头部署位置的情况下,双探头梯度法的误差系数可以从0.4降低到0.03以下。     

On the possibility to check the magnetosphere’s model by CR: The strong geomagnetic storm in November 2003

We report on a study of cosmic ray cutoff rigidity variations during the strong geomagnetic storm of 18–24 November 2003. We employed the most recent Tsyganenko magnetospheric model to represent the very strong disturbed Magnetosphere. We used this magnetic field for the cosmic ray trajectory calculations to determine the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity throughout this period of severe geomagnetic disturbance. We determine the cutoff rigidity changes during this period by two methods, by trajectory calculations and by the spectrographic global survey method. The values of the change of cutoff rigidities obtained by two different methods are correlated with the D_st and interplanetary magnetic field and plasma parameters and result in correlation coefficients in the range 0.63–0.84 for the various cosmic ray stations. The result of this study indicates that the most significant contributions to the cutoff rigidity changes are due to D_st variation although the influence of solar wind density and B_z and B_y components of IMF variations is significant.