Acceleration of interstellar pickup protons at the heliospheric termination shock: Voyager 1/2 energetic proton fluxes in the inner heliosheath

Abstract

Fluxes of energetic protons in the range from 30 keV up to several MeV measured at the Voyager 1/2 spacecraft downstream of the heliospheric termination shock can be explained by shock-drift acceleration theory, which includes variations of the magnetic field direction in a vicinity of the shock. The variations can be connected with the sector structure of the interplanetary magnetic field near the solar equatorial plane. Theoretical fluxes of accelerated protons are calculated numerically in the framework of a 3D kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic model of the interaction of the solar wind and local interstellar medium.