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| Paper: |
Kinetic Modeling of Interstellar Hydrogen in the Heliosphere |
| Volume: |
429, Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows, Astronum-2009 |
| Page: |
227 |
| Authors: |
Heerikhuisen, J.; Pogorelov, N. V. |
| Abstract: |
The interaction between the two plasmas of the solar wind and the
local interstellar medium is complicated by the presence of neutral
hydrogen that dominates by mass beyond ∼ 40 AU from the Sun. The
weak coupling, due to charge-exchange collisions, between the charged
and neutral species results in a variety of non-local effects, and
requires the hydrogen atoms to be modeled
kinetically. Three-dimensional models constructed in this way have
proven critical to understanding the distant heliosphere, particularly
because there are very few spacecraft measurements of this region. In
this paper we outline a new approach to generating the charge-exchange
coupling terms for the charged component, based on using the full 6-D
distribution function of hydrogen, rather than simply logging
individual charge-exchange events. |
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