A simulation study of the electrostatic interaction of a field-aligned electron current sheet with ambient hot ions (TₑTᵢ0.6) and a conducting boundary shows that a V-shaped potential double layer spontaneously develops and accelerates electrons to the ion thermal energy. It is proposed that this double-layer process is responsible for the aurora energy supply. Only as TₑTᵢ approaches unity, the potential exceeds Tᵢ via resistivity enhanced by wave trapping of electrons.
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Wagner et al. (1980) studied this question.