Power aspects of processes at the piston shock region

TL;DR

This paper models the electric potential and field distribution around Earth's magnetosphere during CME-related shock events, focusing on the bow shock and magnetopause interactions using paraboloid assumptions.

Contribution

It introduces a method to determine potential distribution along the magnetopause based on balance conditions and solves for the electric field in the magnetosphere considering the first harmonic.

Findings

Potential distribution at magnetopause is proportional to that at bow shock.

Constructed the full electric field solution in the magnetosphere.

Provided equations to model bow shock processes.

Abstract

Identifying blast-wave shocks, which can arise during CME formation, is a much more complex problem. The difference from piston shocks is that a blast-wave shock originates from the explosions that frequently accompany CME formation, and further propagates freely without any CME piston effects. The bow shock of Earth is a piston shock. Behind the bow shock front there is a flow of the modified solar wind plasma: transition layer, which also carries the modified magnetic field of solar wind. Velocity and density of plasma as well as parameters of magnetic field of this current can be estimated if the form of the bow shock front and of magnetopause are considered to be known. In this paper we assumed them to be paraboloids of rotation. In this paper we have determined potential distribution along magnetopause from the balance condition of substance coming into transition layer from the solar wind on one side and leaving through the gap between magnetosphere and the bow shock front and through magnetopause on another. To a first approximation this distribution differs from potential distribution at the BS front only in a constant multiplier. We used the established potential distribution as a boundary condition while solving the problem on potential distribution in the magnetosphere. The first solution harmonic turned out to coincide in the form with the boundary condition on magnetopause. We have constructed the full solution for electric field in the magnetosphere having limited ourselves to the first harmonic and corotation field. We have obtained necessary equations to model processes in the region of bow shock.