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Ionosphere-exosphere coupling through charge exchange and momentum transfer in hydrogen-proton collisionsThe implications of a traditional assumption of exospheric physics, that collisions of hydrogen atoms and protons preferentially result in charge exchange with negligible momentum transfer are examined. Initially adopted as a necessary convenience to accommodate limited computer resources in exosphere model calculations, this approximation results in a direct transformation of the proton velocity distribution into a hot component of neutral hydrogen. With expanding computational facilities, the need for the approximation has passed. As the first step toward its replacement with a realistic, quantum mechanical model of the H - H(+) collision process, differential and cumulative cross sections were calculated for quantum elastic scattering of indistinguishable nuclei for a fine grid of encounter energies and scattering angles. These data are used to study the nature of ionosphere-exosphere coupling through H - H(+) collisions, and to demonstrate that the distribution of velocities of scattered H produced in the traditional exospheric charge exchange approximation, as well as that arising from an alternative, fluid dynamic approach, leads to unacceptable abundances of coronal atoms in long-term, highly elliptic trajectories.
Document ID
19910052360
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Hodges, R. R., Jr.
(Texas Univ. at Dallas Richardson, TX, United States)
Breig, E. L.
(University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 96
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
91A36983
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF ATM-88-21786
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF ATM-89-05323
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1665
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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