Sliding Contacts in Planetary Magnetospheres

In the planetary magnetospheres there are specific places connected with velocity breakdown, reconnection, and dynamo processes. Here we pay attention to sliding layers. Sliding layers are formed in the ionosphere, on separatrix surfaces, at the magnetopauses and boundaries of stellar astrospheres,...

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Main Authors: Elena Belenkaya, Igor Alexeev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
Series:Symmetry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/13/2/283
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author Elena Belenkaya
Igor Alexeev
author_facet Elena Belenkaya
Igor Alexeev
author_sort Elena Belenkaya
collection DOAJ
description In the planetary magnetospheres there are specific places connected with velocity breakdown, reconnection, and dynamo processes. Here we pay attention to sliding layers. Sliding layers are formed in the ionosphere, on separatrix surfaces, at the magnetopauses and boundaries of stellar astrospheres, and at the Alfvén radius in the equatorial magnetosphere of rapidly rotating strongly magnetized giant planets. Although sliding contacts usually occur in thin local layers, their influence on the global structure of the surrounding space is very great. Therefore, they are associated with non-local processes that play a key role on a large scale. There can be an exchange between different forms of energy, a generation of strong field-aligned currents and emissions, and an amplification of magnetic fields. Depending on the conditions in the magnetosphere of the planet/exoplanet and in the flow of magnetized plasma passing it, different numbers of sliding layers with different configurations appear. Some are associated with regions of auroras and possible radio emissions. The search for planetary radio emissions is a current task in the detection of exoplanets.
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spelling doaj.art-12134a5215704316878c2d52a055b2652023-12-03T12:45:05ZengMDPI AGSymmetry2073-89942021-02-0113228310.3390/sym13020283Sliding Contacts in Planetary MagnetospheresElena Belenkaya0Igor Alexeev1Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP MSU), Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, RussiaSkobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP MSU), Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, RussiaIn the planetary magnetospheres there are specific places connected with velocity breakdown, reconnection, and dynamo processes. Here we pay attention to sliding layers. Sliding layers are formed in the ionosphere, on separatrix surfaces, at the magnetopauses and boundaries of stellar astrospheres, and at the Alfvén radius in the equatorial magnetosphere of rapidly rotating strongly magnetized giant planets. Although sliding contacts usually occur in thin local layers, their influence on the global structure of the surrounding space is very great. Therefore, they are associated with non-local processes that play a key role on a large scale. There can be an exchange between different forms of energy, a generation of strong field-aligned currents and emissions, and an amplification of magnetic fields. Depending on the conditions in the magnetosphere of the planet/exoplanet and in the flow of magnetized plasma passing it, different numbers of sliding layers with different configurations appear. Some are associated with regions of auroras and possible radio emissions. The search for planetary radio emissions is a current task in the detection of exoplanets.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/13/2/283sliding contactsmagnetosphereplanetsexoplanetsreconnectiondynamo
spellingShingle Elena Belenkaya
Igor Alexeev
Sliding Contacts in Planetary Magnetospheres
Symmetry
sliding contacts
magnetosphere
planets
exoplanets
reconnection
dynamo
title Sliding Contacts in Planetary Magnetospheres
title_full Sliding Contacts in Planetary Magnetospheres
title_fullStr Sliding Contacts in Planetary Magnetospheres
title_full_unstemmed Sliding Contacts in Planetary Magnetospheres
title_short Sliding Contacts in Planetary Magnetospheres
title_sort sliding contacts in planetary magnetospheres
topic sliding contacts
magnetosphere
planets
exoplanets
reconnection
dynamo
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/13/2/283
work_keys_str_mv AT elenabelenkaya slidingcontactsinplanetarymagnetospheres
AT igoralexeev slidingcontactsinplanetarymagnetospheres