A guiding centre Vlasov equation and its application to Alfvén waves

1969 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules A. Fejer ◽  
Joseph R. Kan

Guiding centre approximations are used to derive the dielectric tensor of a collisionless plasma. This approximate dielectric tensor is used to obtain the dispersion relation of Alfvén waves in a warm plasma. In a ‘low/ β’ equilibrium plasma Alfvén waves are shown to suffer considerable Landau damping if the propagation vector is almost perpendicular to the magnetic field. In a non- equilibrium plasma Alfvén waves can be generated by ‘negative Landau damping’ even if β is low. For sufficiently high β the well-known ‘garden hose’ instability can occur and is then probably dominant. The importance of these two instabilities in the magnetosphere and in the solar wind is discussed.

1985 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 559-559
Author(s):  
V. A. Mazur ◽  
A. V. Stepanov

It is shown that the existence of plasma density inhomogeneities (ducts) elongated along the magnetic field in coronal loops, and of Alfven wave dispersion, associated with the taking into account of gyrotropy U ≡ ω/ωi ≪ 1 (Leonovich et al., 1983), leads to the possibility of a quasi-longitudinal k⊥ < √U k‖ propagation (wave guiding) of Alfven waves. Here ω is the frequency of Alfven waves, ωi is the proton gyrofrequency, and k is the wave number. It is found that with the parameter ξ = ω2 R/ωi A > 1, where R is the inhomogeneity scale of a loop across the magnetic field, and A is the Alfven wave velocity, refraction of Alfven waves does not lead, as contrasted to Wentzel's inference (1976), to the waves going out of the regime of quasi-longitudinal propagation. As the result, the amplification of Alfven waves in solar coronal loops can be important. A study is made of the cyclotron instability of Alfven waves under solar coronal conditions.


1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. F. Cramer ◽  
S. V. Vladimirov

AbstractDust particles in a plasma can be higWy charged, and can carry a proportion of the negative charge of the plasma. Even if this proportion is quite small, as in interstellar dusty clouds, it can have a large effect on hydromagnetic Alfvén waves propagating at frequencies well below the ion–cyclotron frequency. In particular, the right-hand circularly polarised mode experiences a cutoff due to the presence of the dust. We generalise previous work on Alfvén waves in dusty interstellar plasmas by considering the general dispersion relation for waves propagating at an arbitrary angle with respect to the magnetic field. Wave energy propagating at oblique angles to the magnetic field in an increasing density gradient can be very efficiently damped by the Alfvén resonance absorption process in a dusty plasma, and we consider this damping mechanism for waves in interstellar clouds.


2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Mikhailovskii ◽  
E. A. Kovalishen ◽  
M. S. Shirokov ◽  
V. S. Tsypin ◽  
R. M. O. Galvão

1985 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 559-559
Author(s):  
V. A. Mazur ◽  
A. V. Stepanov

It is shown that the existence of plasma density inhomogeneities (ducts) elongated along the magnetic field in coronal loops, and of Alfven wave dispersion, associated with the taking into account of gyrotropy U ≡ ω/ωi ≪ 1 (Leonovich et al., 1983), leads to the possibility of a quasi-longitudinal k⊥ < √U k‖ propagation (wave guiding) of Alfven waves. Here ω is the frequency of Alfven waves, ωi is the proton gyrofrequency, and k is the wave number. It is found that with the parameter ξ = ω2 R/ωi A > 1, where R is the inhomogeneity scale of a loop across the magnetic field, and A is the Alfven wave velocity, refraction of Alfven waves does not lead, as contrasted to Wentzel's inference (1976), to the waves going out of the regime of quasi-longitudinal propagation. As the result, the amplification of Alfven waves in solar coronal loops can be important. A study is made of the cyclotron instability of Alfven waves under solar coronal conditions.


1978 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Einar Mjølhus

An amplitude dependent criterion for modulational stability of long Alfvén waves parallel to the magnetic field is interpreted in terms of a recently obtained inverse scattering solution to the modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation. It is found that the solitons formed are of two types. In the strongly unstable case, normal solitons are formed. In the transition region of weakly unstable and stable cases, the anomalous type, which in a limiting case becomes the algebraic soliton, dominates. In the strongly stable case, no solitons are formed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 811-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Y. Alkahby

In this paper, we will investigate the heating of the solar corona by the resonant absorption of Alfven waves in a viscous and isothermal atmosphere permeated by a horizontal magnetic field. It is shown that if the viscosity dominates the motion in a high (low)-βplasma, it creates an absorbing and reflecting layer and the heating process is acoustic (magnetoacoustic). When the magnetic field dominates the oscillatory process it creates a non-absorbing reflecting layer. Consequently, the heating process is magnetohydrodynamic. An equation for resonance is derived. It shows that resonances may occur for many values of the frequency and of the magnetic field if the wavelength is matched with the strength of the magnetic field. At the resonance frequencies, magnetic and kinetic energies will increase to very large values which may account for the heating process. When the motion is dominated by the combined effects of the viscosity and the magnetic field, the nature of the reflecting layer and the magnitude of the reflection coefficient depend on the relative strengths of the magnetic field and the viscosity.


1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 161-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Prakash ◽  
P. H. Diamond

Abstract. The present work examines the effects arising from the nonlinear Landau damping and the bounced motion of protons (trapped in the mirror geometry of the geomagnetic field) in the formation of nonlinear Alfvénic structures. These structures are observed at distances 1-5AU in the solar wind plasma (with ß ~ 1). The dynamics of formation of these structures can be understood using kinetic nonlinear Schrodinger (KNLS) model. The structures emerge due to balance of nonlinear steepening (of large amplitude Alfvén waves) by the linear Landau damping of ion-acoustic modes in a finite ß solar wind plasma. The ion-acoustic mode is driven nonlinearly by the large amplitude Alfvén waves. At the large amplitudes of Alfvén wave, the effects due to nonlinear Landau damping become important. These nonlinear effects are incorporated into the KNLS model by modifying the heat flux dissipation coefficient parallel to the ambient magnetic field. The effects arising from the bounced motion (of mirroring protons) are studied using a one-dimensional Vlasov equation. The bounced motion of the protons can lead to growth of the ion-acoustic mode, propagating in the mirror geometry of the geomagnetic field. The significance of these studies in the formation of dissipative quasistationary structures observed in solar wind plasma is discussed.


1988 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Mann

Finite-amplitude circularly polarized Alfvén waves propagating along the ambient magnetic field are described by a derivative nonlinear Schrödinger-type equation. It leads to stationary, solitary and periodic solutions with phase modulations. The amplitude–width relation for these solitons is shown to be an inequality. The relevance of the results is briefly discussed for particular phenomena in the solar wind.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S257) ◽  
pp. 555-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri T. Tsap ◽  
Alexander V. Stepanov ◽  
Yulia. G. Kopylova

AbstractThe propagation of Alfvén waves from the photosphere into the corona with regard to the fine structure of the magnetic field is considered. The energy flux of Alfvén–type waves generated in the photosphere by convective motions does not depend on the ionization ratio. The reflection coefficient continuously decreases with a decrease of wave period. Influence of the external magnetic field on the Spruit cutoff frequency for transverse (kink) modes excited in the thin magnetic flux tubes is analyzed. Torsional modes can penetrate into the upper atmosphere most effectively since their amplitudes does not increase with height in the photosphere while kink ones can be transformed into shock waves in the lower chromosphere because of a significant increase of amplitudes. In spite of stratification the linearity of Alfvén–type modes in the chromosphere is conserved due to violation of the WKB approximation. The important role of the magnetic canopy is discussed. Alfvén waves generated by convective motions in the photosphere can contribute significantly to the heating of the coronal plasma in quite regions of the Sun.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. B. C. Campos ◽  
M. J. S. Silva ◽  
F. Moleiro

The multipolar representation of the magnetic field has, for the lowest-order term, a magnetic dipole that dominates the far field. Thus the far-field representation of the magnetic field of the Earth, Sun and other celestial bodies is a dipole. Since these bodies consist of or are surrounded by plasma, which can support Alfvén waves, their propagation along dipole magnetic field lines is considered using a new coordinate system: dipolar coordinates. The present paper introduces multipolar coordinates, which are an example of conformal coordinates; conformal coordinates are orthogonal with equal scale factors, and can be extended from the plane to space, for instance as cylindrical or spherical dipolar coordinates. The application considered is to Alfvén waves propagating along a circle, that is a magnetic field line of a dipole, with transverse velocity and magnetic field perturbations; the various forms of the wave equation are linear second-order differential equations, with variable coefficients, specified by a background magnetic field, which is force free. The absence of a background magnetic force leads to a mean state of hydrostatic equilibrium, specified by the balance of gravity against the pressure gradient, for a perfect gas or incompressible liquid. The wave equation is simplified to a Gaussian hypergeometric type in the case of zero frequency, otherwise, for non-zero frequency, an extended Gaussian hypergeometric equation is obtained. The solution of the latter specifies the magnetic field perturbation spectrum, and also, via a polarisation relation, the velocity perturbation spectrum; both are plotted, over half a circle, for three values of the dimensionless frequency.


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