Formation of field‐twisting flux tubes on the magnetopause and solar wind particle entry into the magnetosphere

Abstract

A global interaction between the solar wind with a southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and the magnetosphere is studied using a semi‐global simulation model. A magnetic flux tube in which field lines are twisted is created as a result of repeated reconnection between the IMF and the outermost earth‐rooted magnetic field near the equatorial plane and propagates to higher latitudes. When crossing the polar cusp, the flux tube penetrates into the magnetosphere reiterating reconnection with the earth‐rooted higher latitude magnetic field, whereby solar wind particles are freely brought inside the magnetosphere. The flux tube structure has similarities in many aspects to the flux transfer events (FTEs) observed near the dayside magnetopause.