Paper:	The IBEX Ribbon from the Ion Retention Region
Volume:	484, Outstanding Problems in Heliophysics: From Coronal Heating to the Edge of the Heliosphere
Page:	195
Authors:	Schwadron, N. A.; McComas, D. J.
Abstract:	The IBEX ribbon is a narrow, ∼ 20° wide feature that stretches across much of the sky observed in energetic neutral atoms from the outer heliosphere, likely in the inner heliosheath and possibly beyond. The ribbon remains largely unexplained despite its persistence after 3 years of IBEX observations and a dozen theories that attempt to explain it. Recently, a new idea emerged that attempts to explain the ribbon as a spatial region in the outer heliosheath that accumulates pickup ions converted from the neutral atoms that travel out beyond the heliopause. We review the spatial retention concept and resolve recent recent possible concerns. While the mechanism identified here is specific to ion instabilities in the outer heliosheath, there are likely other physical mechanisms that spatially isolate ions near the ribbon and additional source populations that contribute to the excess of ions in this region. Ion retention therefore encompasses the mechanisms and includes the source populations that contribute to spatial confinement of ions near the IBEX ribbon source.

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