Global Ten-Moment Multifluid Simulations of the Solar Wind Interaction with Mercury: From the Planetary Conducting Core to the Dynamic Magnetosphere

Abstract

For the first time, we explore the tightly coupled interior-magnetosphere system of Mercury by employing a three-dimensional ten-moment multifluid model. This novel fluid model incorporates the non-ideal effects including the Hall effect, inertia, and tensorial pressures that are critical for collisionless magnetic reconnection; therefore, it is particularly well suited for investigating $collisionless$ magnetic reconnection in Mercury's magnetotail and at the planet's magnetopause. The model is able to reproduce the observed magnetic field vectors, field-aligned currents, and cross-tail current sheet asymmetry (beyond the MHD approach) and the simulation results are in good agreement with spacecraft observations. We also study the magnetospheric response of Mercury to a hypothetical extreme event with an enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure, which demonstrates the significance of induction effects resulting from the electromagnetically-coupled interior. More interestingly, plasmoids (or flux ropes) are formed in Mercury's magnetotail during the event, indicating the highly dynamic nature of Mercury's magnetosphere.

arXiv commentGeophysical Research Letters, in press, 17 pages, 4 (fancy) figures

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