Numerical simulations of double layers and auroral electric fields

Recent one-dimensional and two-dimensional numerical simulations of double layers (DLs) in the electric fields of the auroral plasma are reviewed, with reference to observational data. It is found that two-dimensional DLs driven by current sheets of finite thickness have different characteristics, depending on whether the layer thickness is less than or much greater than the ion gyroradius: When thickness is less than ion gyroradius, V-shaped DLs form with nearly equal parallel and perpendicular potential drops; when layer thickness is much greater than ion gyroradius the major parallel potential drop occurs outside the current sheet and the perpendicular electric fields are localized at the edges of the current sheet. It is shown that some features of the simulated fields, such as the amplitudes and scale lengths, are qualitatively similar to those observed in space. 45 references