Collision of a~solar wind shock wave with the Earth's bow shock. Wave flow pattern

E. A. Pushkar ; A. S. Korolev

Informatics and Automation, Modern problems of mechanics, Tome 281 (2013), pp. 199-214

Résumé

The wave pattern of the flow developed when a solar wind shock wave propagates along the surface of the Earth's bow shock is studied. The investigation is carried out in the three-dimensional non-plane-polarized formulation within the framework of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic model in which the medium is assumed to be inviscid and non-heat-conducting and to have the infinite conductivity. The global three-dimensional pattern of the interaction which is a function of the latitude and longitude of elements on the surface of the bow shock is constructed as a mosaic of solutions to the problem of breakdown of a discontinuity developed between the states behind the impinging and bow shocks on the moving curve of intersection of their fronts. The investigation is carried out for typical solar wind parameters and interplanetary magnetic field strength in the Earth's orbit and for several Mach numbers of the interplanetary shock wave, which makes it possible to trace the evolution of the flow developed as a function of the intensity of the shock perturbation of the solar wind. The solution obtained is necessary for interpreting measurements carried out by spacecraft located in the neighborhood of the Lagrange point and the Earth's magnetosphere.