Ion Reflection by a Rippled Perpendicular Shock

Abstract

We use multi-spacecraft Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations to investigate electric fields and ion reflection at a non-stationary collisionless perpendicular plasma shock. We identify sub-proton scale (5-10 electron inertial lengths) large-amplitude normal electric fields, balanced by the Hall term ($\mathbf{J}\times \mathbf{B}/ne$), as a transient feature of the shock ramp related to non-stationarity (rippling). The associated electrostatic potential, comparable to the energy of the incident solar wind protons, decelerates incident ions and reflects a significant fraction of protons, resulting in more efficient shock-drift acceleration than a stationary planar shock.

arXiv comment14 pages, 4 figures, supplementary material

References in corpus (6)

• On the Radio Polarization Signature of Efficient and Inefficient Particle Acceleration in Supernova Remnant SN 1006
• Large parallel and perpendicular electric fields on electron spatial scales in the terrestrial bow shock
• A database of MMS bow shock crossings compiled using machine learning
• Microstructure in two- and three-dimensional hybrid simulations of perpendicular collisionless shocks
• X-ray polarization detection of Cassiopeia A with IXPE
• The Dynamics of a High Mach Number Quasi-Perpendicular Shock: MMS Observations

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Occurrence of Non-Stationarity at Earth's Quasi-Perpendicular Bow Shock