THREE-DIMENSIONAL KINETIC-MHD MODEL OF THE GLOBAL HELIOSPHERE WITH THE HELIOPAUSE-SURFACE FITTING

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed description of the latest version of our model\nof the solar wind (SW) interaction with the local interstellar medium (LISM).\nThis model has already been applied to the analysis of Lyman-alpha absorption\nspectra toward nearby stars and for analyses of Solar and Heliospheric\nObservatory/SWAN data. Katushkina et al. (this issue) used the model results to\nanalyze IBEX-Lo data. At the same time, the details of this model have not yet\nbeen published. This is a three-dimensional (3D) kinetic-magnetohydrodynamical\n(MHD) model that takes into account SW and interstellar plasmas (including\n$\\alpha$ particles in SW and helium ions in LISM), the solar and interstellar\nmagnetic fields, and the interstellar hydrogen atoms. The latitudinal\ndependence of SW and the actual flow direction of the interstellar gas with\nrespect to the Sun are also taken into account in the model. It was very\nessential that our numerical code had been developed in such a way that any\nnumerical diffusion or reconnection across the heliopause had not been allowed\nin the model. The heliospheric current sheet is a rotational discontinuity in\nthe ideal MHD and can be treated kinematically. In the paper, we focus in\nparticular on the effects of the heliospheric magnetic field and on the\nheliolatitudinal dependence of SW.\n