FTE Dependence on IMF Orientation and Presence of Hall Physics in Global MHD Simulations

Flux Transfer Events (FTEs) are poleward traveling flux ropes that form in the dayside magnetopause and represent significant coupling of the solar wind to the magnetosphere during times of southward IMF. In the 35 years since their discovery, FTEs have been extensively observed and modeled; however, there is still no consensus on their generation mechanism. Previous modeling efforts have shown that FTE occurrence and size depend on the resistivity model that is used in simulations and the structure of X-lines in the magnetopause. We use Hall OpenGGCM, a global Hall-MHD code, to study the formation and propagation of FTEs in the dayside magnetopause using synthetic solar wind conditions. We examine large scale FTE structure and nearby magnetic separators for a range of IMF clock angles and dipole tilts. In addition, we investigate how FTE formation and recurrence rate depends on the presence of the Hall term in the generalized Ohm's law compared with resistive MHD.