Double layers do accelerate particles in the auroral zone

Electric field in a double layer and the imparted momentum

It is shown that the net momentum delivered by the large electric field inside a one-dimensional double layer is zero. This is demonstrated through an analysis of the momentum balance in the double layer at the boundary between the ionosphere and the aurora cavity. For the recently observed double layer in a current-free plasma expanding along a divergent magnetic field, an analysis of the evolution of the radially averaged variables shows that the increase of plasma thrust results from the magnetic-field pressure balancing the plasma pressure in the direction of acceleration, rather than from electrostatic pressure.