Earths Magnetic Field

[Morphix]

Discovered by accident, which is what happens when your acceptd theories lack predictive power. Published in Physical Review Letters for December 2 and covered by an article at space.com http://www.space.com/23747-earth-radiat ... trons.html and referenced in another piece at Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/0 ... 68024.html

Didn't EU theory predict this one?

[Anaconda]

Yes, this is a big one, if not the big one:

The structures in question are known as "double layers." They are each made up of a pair of parallel layers of particles with opposite electrical charge that move along Earth's magnetic field. The probes saw huge numbers of double layers in the outer belt —7,000 in the course of a minute, each lasting on the order of seconds.

These double layers were discovered "sort of by accident as the Van Allen probes passed through this region of space, and only captured a snapshot," said study lead author Forrest Mozer, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley."The spacecraft will get back to this region maybe eight months, maybe 10 months from now, and we're setting up our instruments to do what we now know they should — to collect data at that site then with a continuous view, to really get definitive information on what is going on there."

-- Space.com

Hannes Alfven declared Double Layers should be viewed as an astronomical structure, so important were they to understanding the dynamics of astronomical phenomenon.

And here are a remarkable couple of concluding quotes from the Space.com article:

These findings suggest double layers may help drive electrons to relativistic speeds elsewhere in the cosmos.

"These results provide one step in shedding light on the processes that can lead to rapid acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies," Mozer told SPACE.com. "The processes we're starting to define certainly could be at work in regimes like the sun, for example, and probably all throughout astrophysics."

Hannes Alfven absolutely deserved his Nobel prize.

Hannes Alfven is still teaching to the world of astronomy and astrophysics to this very day

[Anaconda]

In deed, Hannes Alfven organized a NASA conference in 1986 on Double Layers: “Double Layers in Astrophysics.”

In conclusion, it seems that astrophysics is too important to be left in the hands of theoretical astrophysicists who have gotten their education from the listed textbooks. The multibillion dollar space data from astronomical telescopes should be treated by scientists who are familiar with laboratory and magnetospheric physics, circuit theory, and, of course, modern plasma physics. More than 99 percent of the Universe consists of plasma, and the ratio between electromagnetic and gravitational forces is 1039.”
—H. Alfvén, NASA Conference Publication 2469, 1986, p. 16.

[Anaconda]

Notice in the Space.com article that multiple Double Layers were formed:

The structures in question are known as "double layers." They are each made up of a pair of parallel layers of particles with opposite electrical charge that move along Earth's magnetic field. The probes saw huge numbers of double layers in the outer belt —7,000 in the course of a minute, each lasting on the order of seconds.

Given the above statement, one needs to be conscious of how Double Layers form in bodies of plasma:

Anthony L. Peratt provides a two-step explanation for why Double Layers can form in such abundance in astrophysical plasma:

“The moving plasma, i.e., charged particles flows, are currents that produce self-magnetic fields, however weak.” — Dr. Anthony L. Peratt

“An electromotive force [mathematical equation] giving rise to electrical currents in conducting media is produced wherever a relative perpendicular motion of plasma and magnetic fields exists.” — Dr. Anthony L. Peratt

In other words, colliding bodies of plasma, yes, colliding quasi-neutral bodies of plasma, cause Double Layer boundary sheaths to form, which, then, in turn, causes the segregation and acceleration of charged particles, which are segregated into respective, distinct moving bodies of electrons & ions, thus, segregated electric currents.

These bodies of electrons & ions are accelerated in opposite directions from the Double Layer astrophysical structure.

If all it takes to form Double Layers in space plasma is the collision of charged particles with magnetic fields, given the abundance of magnetic fields observed in space, at the planetary, intergalactic, and galactic order of magnitude, and the observation of multiple moving bodies of plasma, on those same orders of magnitude, Double Layers must exist, and, thus, electric fields and electric currents must also exist.

Go back to the concluding statements of the Space.com article:

These findings suggest double layers may help drive electrons to relativistic speeds elsewhere in the cosmos.

"These results provide one step in shedding light on the processes that can lead to rapid acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies," Mozer told SPACE.com. "The processes we're starting to define certainly could be at work in regimes like the sun, for example, and probably all throughout astrophysics."

Bingo

[nick c]

I am sure that everyone within the EU umbrella is going to be pleased with the direction that this article is pointing toward. The use of such terms as "electrical currents" and "double layers" are rarely if ever found in mainstream articles. It is a giant step forward.

[Rossim]

Can anyone post a link to the physics review letter that this info is sourced from? The article just says it's published 12/2 but doesn't give a year or title.

[Morphix]

Here is something titled "Megavolt parallel potentials arising from double-layer streams in the Earth's outer radiation belt" from Physical Letters Review by Mozer et al from October 23, 2013: http://www.space.com/23747-earth-radiat ... trons.html

[D_Archer]

The space.com article read like a TPOD, really great that the people who man the probes know what the future of their research should be.

I could not find the relevant paper, but it was submitted to Physical Review > http://prl.aps.org/accepted/24079Y9fU82 ... b02dc48c11

Kind regards,
Daniel

[Morphix]

Thanks D. Archer, I accidentally re-pasted the space.com link. The Physical Letters Review document may appear there today.

[Morphix]

Here is the referenced article published today in Physical Letters Review: http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v111/i23/e235002

And a viewpoint also published in today's PLR: http://physics.aps.org/articles/v6/131

Enjoy!

[Max Photon]

This calls for my very first OMG.



Those article should be titled "Uncle!"

Gosh Morphix, your last link is ... amazing. The author, Gaetano Zimbardo, deserves a gelato. (I'll have one too, please.)

He can see the implications of double layers for the sun's corona, gamma rays, cosmic rays...

Two scoops for the man!


BTW, Don Scott gets kudos for pointing out the reification of magnetic field lines. It appears to be pandemic.

[Morphix]

Yes indeed, what a truly scientific article, and what a truly appreciative viewpoint.

I quote from Zinbardo's viewpoint "A Particle Accelerator in the Radiation Belts" at http://physics.aps.org/articles/v6/131

These results have several far-reaching implications. First, they complete the long-standing goal of understanding extreme acceleration of electrons in the Earth’s radiation belts. Second, the observations show that the Earth’s magnetosphere can be used as a laboratory for studying energetic particle acceleration while “changing” the experimental conditions (with or without double layers and with or without whistlers), just as we would do in our laboratory. Third, a detailed understanding of the acceleration mechanisms in the Earth’s magnetosphere can be exported to other astrophysical systems, like the solar corona, with observed particle energies up to 1 GeV, and to the other planetary magnetospheres, as well as far more distant objects like supernova remnants [9], with cosmic-ray energies as high as 1015 eV and more. Indeed, beams of particles moving along the magnetic field, which are the likely origin of double layers, are also envisaged for those objects. This prompts new questions: Why are electron acoustic waves and the associated double layers formed? Why do double layers occur in streams of thousands? What conditions allow such large electric potential differences to exist? What drivers of the magnetospheric dynamics can also be found in other astrophysical systems?

These results join other observations and models of near-Earth phenomena that have broader astrophysical relevance. For example, terrestrial gamma rays in the upper atmosphere may give insight into the origin of gamma-ray bursts from the most distant objects in the Universe, and magnetic-field reconnection similar to that at the Earth’s magnetopause may accelerate high-energy cosmic rays. These findings show that studying geospace plasmas is not only worthwhile per se, but that the Earth’s broad environment is a real laboratory for high-energy astrophysics.

[GaryN]

I notice no mainstream sites or forums have so much as mentioned this yet, perhaps they are circling the wagons, to give them a chance to mount a defence? Can't wait to read what the Bad Astronomer will have to say.

[meemoe_uk]

Hi all,
just had to post on this thread, because its clear this discovery is one of the biggest breaks, if not THE biggest break, EU has ever had. The implications are instantly obvious to anyone : all magnetic celestial bodies are likely have powerful electric double layer arrays. In particular the sun's DL will be orders of magnitude larger. Also they say the _Earth's_ double layers will accel electron to 99% speed of light. So by this stellar electric fields will easily produce all the gamma rays we knew it could.

I've been seeing electric theory creeping very slowly but surely into mainstream astrophysics language, so something like this was going to happen sooner or later.

All the staggering implications of EU will flow from this discovery. e.g. The solar corona ( sun's van allen belt ) will have an electric field strong enough to power nuclear fusion.

NASA are seriously on to this now, its unstoppable.

EU, your time has come.

[nick c]

Can't wait to read what the Bad Astronomer will have to say.

Maybe it will be something like the reader comments at the very bottom of this article:
http://m.space.com/23747-earth-radiatio ... trons.html

...your arguments are unconvincing. the measurements taken of the CMB fail to meet the predictions of EU theory but match up very well with mainstream consensus physics Big Bang / Relativity predictions.

thunderbolts is a crank website. it's garbage.

you CLAIM that plasma physics can better interpret the data you mention ... but it did NOT predict any of it beforehand. as a predictive model, plasma physics / EU is an utter failure.