Bremen 2017 – scientific programme

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 8: Symposium Fundamental Physics in Space

EP 8.1: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 15, 2017, 14:00–14:30, SFG 0140

Magnetospheric Physics -- Basic Processes and Open Questions — •Antonius Otto — Geophysical Institute, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks

The terrestrial magnetosphere is a unique laboratory to study fundamental plasma physics because it allows the in-situ study of basic processes that are important in many astrophysical plasma environments. Although basic magnetospheric configuration is very simple -- a magnetic dipole with an inner boundary at the upper atmosphere and an outer boundary subjected to the solar wind -- the detailed physics is extremely rich. Magnetospheres allow the study of different types of shock physics, various macro- and microscopic boundary layer processes, plasma transport across boundaries, wave propagation, energy storage and release, current sheet formation, and magnetic reconnection. This presentation will address several selected topics motivated by the enormous progress that has been achieved in magnetospheric physics during the past decades. We have now a much better understanding of the role of Kelvin-Helmholtz waves and magnetic reconnection for the plasma transport at magnetospheric boundaries and the nature of transient events at the bow shock. Observations have provided a new framework for the energy storage and release during geomagnetic substorms. New evidence suggests that reconnection occurs almost always in bursty individual events. However, there are still basic open questions including fundamental topics such as the cause for the auroral acceleration, the physics of non-adiabatic plasma heating, and the micro-physics of magnetic reconnection.