2025/07/10 by Adnane Osmane, E. Roussos, Osmane, Adnane +3 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #FOS: Physical sciences #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Planetary Science and Exploration #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) #Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2507.07739
openalex publication_date 2025/07/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We present a new theoretical framework to describe the rapid and spatially localized loss of energetic particles in planetary radiation belts, focusing on interactions between gas giant magnetospheres and their moons. Observations show that flux depletions--known as microsignatures--often refill on timescales comparable to a single drift period, which conflicts with traditional quasi-linear radial diffusion models that assume slow, gradual transport and predict refilling only over many drift periods. To resolve this inconsistency, we develop a drift-kinetic model that explicitly captures localized losses occurring on timescales similar to the azimuthal drift period. We demonstrate that such localized loss regions can synchronize the azimuthal Fourier modes of the particle distribution function, producing apparent refilling through phase-space synchronization rather than diffusion. The resulting governing equations are mathematically equivalent to a generalized Kuramoto model, widely used to describe synchronization phenomena. This framework provides a first-principles, non-diffusive explanation for the evolution of microsignatures near moons, highlighting synchronization as a fundamental yet overlooked mechanism in magnetized plasma environments.