| Abstract: | ![]()
A model of the plasma distribution in the middle Jovian magnetosphere is considered. The distribution of the background plasma along the magnetic lines of force under the action of the centrifugal force and the force of gravity is analyzed in the framework of the diffusive equilibrium, taking into account the finite angle between the magnetic and rotational axes. It is shown that the dense structures of the background plasma have the form of a warped sheet located between the magnetic and centrifugal equators, and of two mirror symmetrical  petals in the vicinity of the polar cusps. The hydrodynamic stability of the dense plasma sheet, formed under the action of the centrifugal force, is studied. The steady state radial plasma distribution at the threshold of the instability with respect to the small-scale MHD perturbations is determined. The finite conductivity of the Jovian ionosphere is taken into account. The influences of the longitudinal inhomogeneity of the perturbations, the finite ion Larmor radius, and the curvature of the magnetic field lines on the threshold of the instability are estimated. Some aspects of the formation of the energetic particle distribution in the middle Jovian magnetosphere are considered. The suggested model shows reliable agreement with the known experimental data and is also useful in describing the background plasma distribution in the magnetospheres of Neptune and Uranus.Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod. Traslated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 580–595, May, 1994. |
