Eckart Marsch

ON INTERMITTENT TURBULENCE HEATING OF THE SOLAR WIND: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TANGENTIAL AND ROTATIONAL DISCONTINUITIES

The intermittent structures in solar wind turbulence, studied by using measurements from the WIND spacecraft, are identified as being mostly rotational discontinuities (RDs) and rarely tangential discontinuities (TDs) based on the technique described by Smith. Only TD-associated current sheets (TCSs) are found to be accompanied with strong local heating of the solar wind plasma. Statistical results show that the TCSs have a distinct tendency to be associated with local enhancements of the proton temperature, density, and plasma beta, and a local decrease of magnetic field magnitude. Conversely, for RDs, our statistical results do not reveal convincing heating effects. These results confirm the notion that dissipation of solar wind turbulence can take place in intermittent or locally isolated small-scale regions which correspond to TCSs. The possibility of heating associated with RDs is discussed.

RADIAL EVOLUTION OF THE WAVEVECTOR ANISOTROPY OF SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE BETWEEN 0.3 AND 1 AU

We present observations of the power spectral anisotropy in the wavevector space of solar wind turbulence and study how it evolves in interplanetary space with increasing heliocentric distance. We use magnetic field measurements from the Helios 2 spacecraft within 1 AU. To derive the power spectral density (PSD) in the (k{sub Parallel-To }, k ) space based on single-satellite measurements is a challenging task that had not been accomplished previously. Here, we derive the spectrum PSD{sub 2D}(k{sub Parallel-To }, k{sub Up-Tack }) from the spatial correlation function CF{sub 2D}(r{sub Parallel-To }, r ) by a transformation according to the projection-slice theorem. We find the so-constructed PSDs to be distributed in k space mainly along a ridge that is more inclined toward the k{sub Up-Tack} axis than the k{sub Parallel-To} axis. Furthermore, this ridge of the distribution is found to gradually get closer to the k{sub Up-Tack} axis as the outer scale length of the turbulence becomes larger with increasing radial distance. In the vicinity of the k{sub Parallel-To} axis, a minor spectral component appears that probably corresponds to quasi-parallel Alfvenic fluctuations. Their relative contribution to the total spectral density tends to decrease with radial distance. These findings suggest that solarmorexa0» wind turbulence undergoes an anisotropic cascade transporting most of its magnetic energy toward larger k{sub Up-Tack} and that the anisotropy in the inertial range is radially developing further at scales that are relatively far from the ever increasing outer scale. For the ion-scale fluctuations, we speculate, from the radial evolution of the extended oblique major component, a transition tendency from dominance by oblique Alfven/ion-cyclotron waves ( 1 AU)«xa0less

INJECTION OF PLASMA INTO THE NASCENT SOLAR WIND VIA RECONNECTION DRIVEN BY SUPERGRANULAR ADVECTION

To understand the origin of the solar wind is one of the key research topics in modern solar and heliospheric physics. Previous solar wind models assumed that plasma flows outward along a steady magnetic flux tube that reaches continuously from the photosphere through the chromosphere into the corona. Inspired by more recent comprehensive observations, Tu et al. suggested a new scenario for the origin of the solar wind, in which it flows out in a magnetically open coronal funnel and mass is provided to the funnel by small-scale side loops. Thus mass is supplied by means of magnetic reconnection that is driven by supergranular convection. To validate this scenario and simulate the processes involved, a 2.5 dimensional (2.5D) numerical MHD model is established in the present paper. In our simulation a closed loop moves toward an open funnel, which has opposite polarity and is located at the edge of a supergranulation cell, and magnetic reconnection is triggered and continues while gradually opening up one half of the closed loop. Its other half connects with the root of the open funnel and forms a new closed loop which is submerged by a reconnection plasma stream flowing downward. Thus we find that the outflowing plasma in the newly reconnected funnel originates not only from the upward reconnection flow but also from the high-pressure leg of the originally closed loop. This implies an efficient supply of mass from the dense loop to the dilute funnel. The mass flux of the outflow released from the funnel considered in our study is calculated to be appropriate for providing the mass flux at the coronal base of the solar wind, though additional heating and acceleration mechanisms are necessary to keep the velocity at the higher location. Our numerical model demonstrates that in the funnel the mass for the solar wind may be supplied from adjacent closed loops via magnetic reconnection as well as directly from the footpoints of open funnels.

Small-scale Pressure-balanced Structures Driven by Oblique Slow Mode Waves Measured in the Solar Wind

Recently, small-scale pressure-balanced structures (PBSs) were identified in the solar wind, but their formation mechanism remains unclear. This work aims to reveal the dependence of the properties of small-scale PBSs on the background magnetic field (B 0) direction and thus to corroborate the in situ mechanism that forms them. We analyze the plasma and magnetic field data obtained by WIND in the quiet solar wind at 1xa0AU. First, we use a developed moving-average method to obtain B 0(s, t) for every temporal scale (s) at each time moment (t). By wavelet cross-coherence analysis, we obtain the correlation coefficients between the thermal pressure P th and the magnetic pressure P B, distributing against the temporal scale and the angle θxB between B 0(s, t) and Geocentric Solar Ecliptic coordinates (GSE)-x. We note that the angle coverage of a PBS decreases with shorter temporal scale, but the occurrence of the PBSs is independent of θxB. Suspecting that the isolated small PBSs are formed by compressive waves in situ, we continue this study by testing the wave modes forming a small-scale PBS with B 0(s, t) quasi-parallel to GSE-x. As a result, we identify that the cross-helicity and the compressibility attain values for a slow mode from theoretical calculations. The wave vector is derived from minimum variance analysis. Besides, the proton temperatures obey T ⊥ < T ∥ derived from the velocity distribution functions, excluding a mirror mode, which is the other candidate for the formation of PBSs in situ. Thus, a small-scale PBS is shown to be driven by oblique, slow-mode waves in the solar wind.

EVIDENCE OF LANDAU AND CYCLOTRON RESONANCE BETWEEN PROTONS AND KINETIC WAVES IN SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE

The wave–particle interaction processes occurring in the solar wind provide crucial information to understand the wave dissipation and simultaneous particle heating in plasma turbulence. One requires observations of both wave fluctuations and particle kinetics near the dissipation range, which have, however, not yet been analyzed simultaneously. Here we show new evidence of wave–particle interactions by combining the diagnosis of wave modes with the analysis of particle kinetics on the basis of measurements from the WIND spacecraft with a high cadence of about 3 s. Solar wind protons appear to be highly dynamic in their velocity distribution consisting of varying anisotropic core and beam components. The basic scenario of solar wind proton heating through wave–particle interaction is suggested to be the following. Left-handed cyclotron resonance occurs continuously, and is evident from the observed proton core velocity distribution and the concurrent quasi-parallel left-handed Alfven cyclotron waves. Landau and right-handed cyclotron resonances are persistent and indicated by the observed drifting anisotropic beam and the simultaneous quasi-perpendicular right-handed kinetic Alfven waves in a general sense. The persistence of non-gyrotropic proton distributions may cast new light on the nature of the interaction between particles and waves near and beyond the proton gyro-frequency.

KINETIC SLOW MODE IN THE SOLAR WIND AND ITS POSSIBLE ROLE IN TURBULENCE DISSIPATION AND ION HEATING

The solar wind is permeated by various kinds of fluctuations ranging broadly in scales from those of the solar corona and inner heliosphere down to the local ion and electron plasma kinetic scales. The question of what rules the dissipation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in the solar wind has not conclusively been answered, but remains a key research topic of space plasma physics. Here we propose a new dissipation mechanism, the proton Landau damping of the quasi-perpendicular kinetic slow mode. This mode is linked to the oblique MHD slow mode, yet has shorter wavelengths going down to the proton inertial length. The kinetic slow mode can be separated from the kinetic Alfven mode by the Alfven resonance parameter, the proton Landau resonance parameter, the magnetic compressibility, and the electric field polarization. Numerical simulations and in situ observations indicate that the MHD turbulent cascade preferably transfers energy in the direction perpendicular to the background magnetic field. If the kinetic slow mode is also generated and replenished by the energy cascade, this mode can lead to both perpendicular and parallel heating of the protons.

The Influence of Intermittency on the Spectral Anisotropy of Solar Wind Turbulence

The relation between the intermittency and the anisotropy of the power spectrum in the solar wind turbulence is studied by applying the wavelet technique to the magnetic field and flow velocity data measured by the WIND spacecraft. It is found that when the intermittency is removed from the turbulence, the spectral indices of the power spectra of the field and velocity turn out to be independent of the angle θRB between the direction of the local scale-dependent background magnetic field and the heliocentric direction. The spectral index becomes –1.63 ± 0.02 for magnetic field fluctuations and –1.56 ± 0.02 for velocity fluctuations. These results may suggest that the recently found spectral anisotropy of solar wind power spectra in the inertial range could result from turbulence intermittency. As a consequence, a new concept is here proposed of an intermittency-associated sub-range of the inertial domain adjacent to the dissipation range. Since spectral anisotropy was previously explained as evidence for the presence of a critical balance type turbulent cascade, and also for the existence of kinetic Alfven waves, this new finding may stimulate fresh thoughts on how to analyze and interpret solar wind turbulence and the associated heating.

PROTON HEATING IN SOLAR WIND COMPRESSIBLE TURBULENCE WITH COLLISIONS BETWEEN COUNTER-PROPAGATING WAVES

Magnetohydronamic turbulence is believed to play a crucial role in heating the laboratorial, space, and astrophysical plasmas. However, the precise connection between the turbulent fluctuations and the particle kinetics has not yet been established. Here we present clear evidence of plasma turbulence heating based on diagnosed wave features and proton velocity distributions from solar wind measurements by the Wind spacecraft. For the first time, we can report the simultaneous observation of counter-propagating magnetohydrodynamic waves in the solar wind turbulence. Different from the traditional paradigm with counter-propagating Alfven waves, anti-sunward Alfven waves (AWs) are encountered by sunward slow magnetosonic waves (SMWs) in this new type of solar wind compressible turbulence. The counter-propagating AWs and SWs correspond respectively to the dominant and sub-dominant populations of the imbalanced Elsasser variables. Nonlinear interactions between the AWs and SMWs are inferred from the non-orthogonality between the possible oscillation direction of one wave and the possible propagation direction of the other. The associated protons are revealed to exhibit bi-directional asymmetric beams in their velocity distributions: sunward beams appearing in short and narrow patterns and anti-sunward broad extended tails. It is suggested that multiple types of wave-particle interactions, i.e., cyclotron and Landau resonances with AWs and SMWs at kinetic scales, are taking place to jointly heat the protons perpendicularly and parallel.

The upstream‐propagating Alfvénic fluctuations with power law spectra in the upstream region of the Earth's bow shock

Based on theories, the beam instability induced by shock-accelerated ions can generate upstream-propagating Alfven waves (UPAWs) with a power spectral bump near 0.03u2009Hz, while the nonlinear wave-wave interaction favors an inverse cascade to create a power law spectrum. Here we present the first observational evidence for the upstream-propagating Alfvenic fluctuations (UPAFs) with power law spectra. We utilize a new criterion to identify the upstream-propagating Alfvenic intervals: the propagation direction is opposite to that of solar wind strahl electron outflow. Besides 35 UPAWs, we find 47 UPAFs with power law spectra, and ∼47% of these UPAFs are associated with energetic ion events (>30u2009keV). These UPAWs and UPAFs are mostly observed in the slow solar wind. However, their occurrence rate and power behave differently in dependence on the radial distance from the Earth. These results provide new clues on understanding the dynamic equilibrium between the nonlinear inverse cascade and the linear ion beam instability.

Sunward Propagating Alfvén Waves in Association with Sunward Drifting Proton Beams in the Solar Wind

Using measurements from the WIND spacecraft, here we report the observation of sunward propagating Alfven waves (AWs) in solar wind that is magnetically disconnected from the Earths bow shock. In the sunward magnetic field sector, we find a period lasting for more than three days in which there existed (during most time intervals) a negative correlation between the flow velocity and magnetic field fluctuations, thus indicating that the related AWs are mainly propagating sunward. Simultaneous observations of counter-streaming suprathermal electrons suggest that these sunward AWs may not simply be due to the deflection of an open magnetic field line. Moreover, no interplanetary coronal mass ejection appears to be associated with the counter-streaming suprathermal electrons. As the scale goes from the magnetohydrodynamic down to the ion kinetic regime, the wave vector of magnetic fluctuations usually becomes more orthogonal to the mean magnetic field direction, and the fluctuations become increasingly compressible, which are both features consistent with quasi-perpendicular kinetic AWs. However, in the case studied here, we find clear signatures of quasi-parallel sunward propagating ion-cyclotron waves. Concurrently, the solar wind proton velocity distribution reveals a sunward field-aligned beam that drifts at about the local Alfven speed. This beam is found to run in the opposite direction of the normally observed (anti-sunward) proton beam, and is apparently associated with sunward propagating Alfven/ion-cyclotron waves. The results and conclusions of this study enrich our knowledge of solar wind turbulence and foster our understanding of proton heating and acceleration within a complex magnetic field geometry.