We calculate the structure of a force–free magnetosphere which is assumed to corotate with a central star and which interacts with an embedded differentially rotating accretion disc. The magnetic and rotation axes are aligned and the stellar field is assumed to be a dipole. We concentrate on the case when the amount of field line twisting through the disc–magnetosphere interaction is large and ...

Using data from WIND, SAMPEX (Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer), and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) sensors onboard geostationary satellites, we investigate the correlation of energetic electrons in the 20-200 keV range in the solar wind and of high speed solar wind streams with relativistic electrons in the magnetosphere to determine whether energetic electrons...

[1] We present a focused parameter study of solar wind–magnetosphere interaction for the young Sun and Earth, ∼3.5 Gyr ago, that relies on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations for both the solar wind and the magnetosphere. By simulating the quiescent young Sun and its wind we are able to propagate the MHD simulations up to Earth’s magnetosphere and obtain a physically realistic solar forcing o...

[1] Initial Cassini observations have revealed evidence for interchanging magnetic flux tubes in the inner Saturnian magnetosphere. Some of the reported flux tubes differ remarkably by their magnetic signatures, having a depressed or enhanced magnetic pressure relative to their surroundings. The ones with stronger fields have been interpreted previously as either outward moving mass-loaded or i...

The technique of tracing along magnetic field lines is widely used in magnetospheric physics to provide a ‘‘magnetic frame of reference’’ that facilitates both the planning of experiments and the interpretation of observations. The precision of any such magnetic frame of reference depends critically on the accurate representation of the various sources of magnetic field in the magnetosphere. In...

[1] Physics‐based global magnetosphere modeling requires large computational resources. It is still impractical to resolve the computational domain to the point where numerical errors become negligible. One possible way of reducing numerical diffusion is the “Boris correction”: the semirelativistic magnetohydrodynamics equations are solved with an artificially reduced speed of light. Here we in...

The two full precessions in local time completed by the Van Allen Probes enable global specification of the near-equatorial inner magnetosphere plasma environment. Observations by the Helium-Oxygen-Proton-Electron (HOPE) mass spectrometers provide detailed insight into the global spatial distribution of electrons, H+, He+, and O+. Near-equatorial omnidirectional fluxes and abundance ratios at e...

It has been shown that the optimal linear prediction lter relating the solar wind electric eld and the geomagnetic activity, as measured by the AL index, is both bi-modal and dependent on the level of activity in the magnetosphere. Further studies truncated the prediction lter to a ve parameter model containing two low-pass ltered delta functions of arbitrary amplitude and delay time. The prese...

[1] A variety of observations have shown strong seasonal variations in a vast array of magnetosphere-ionosphere parameters, including field-aligned currents, cross polar cap potential, and precipitating electron energy flux. In this paper we examine how these variations are modeled in the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global-scale magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the coupled solar wind-magnetosphe...

[1] Recent modeling efforts have yielded varying and conflicting results regarding the possibility that Earth’s magnetosphere is able to shield energetic particles of >10 MeV at lunar distances. This population of particles consists of galactic cosmic rays as well as energetic particles that are accelerated by solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of ...