Electrons and Ions in the Jove-Io Current Tube. Part II. Electron Runaway. Active Longitudes

Abstract

The basic integral parameters of the electron runaway process in the Jove-Io current tube plasma are analyzed: critical and longitudinal electric fields, streams of escaping particles. The dependencies of these magnitudes vs. longitudinal position of the tube and coordinates of its point (i. e. distance to the axis and height) are numerically analyzed in detail. Their dependencies on the tube current, radius and the parameters determining the kinetics of ionization and plasma heating processes are investigated. The definition of active longitudinal Jove zones as such where the current tube thermodynamic conditions are optimal for electron beam formation is introduced. The connection of active longitudes with the position and properties of experimentally observed Jove DAM sources is discussed.