SMALL-SCALE SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE DUE TO NONLINEAR ALFVÉN WAVES

2015 ◽  
Vol 812 (1) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjay Kumar ◽  
R. P. Sharma ◽  
Y.-J. Moon
1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 475-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Schmidt

Abstract. This work follows the paper titled "Spatial transport and spectral transfer of solar wind turbulence composed of Alfvén waves and convective structures I: The theoretical model", and deals with the detailed physics and numerical solution of a two-component solar wind model, consisting of small-scale Alfvén waves and convected structures. In particular, we present numerical results which qualitatively reflect many of the observed features of the radial and spectral evolution of the turbulent energies, the residual energy, the cross-helicity and Alfvén-ratio in high-speed solar wind streams. These features are the following: the formation of a characteristic "inclined eye", which evolves between the energy spectra displayed over the frequency axis and tends to close in the radial development of the spectra, a steepening of all spectra towards Kolmogorov-like f-5/3 spectra, the development of the normalized cross-helicity towards a constant not much less than one and the formation of a "trough" form of the Alfvén ratio with a z-shaped left boundary, By weighting special terms in the equations differently, we can also cast light on the physical role of parametric conversion model terms, wave-structure scattering model terms, nonlinear terms, spherical expansion terms and their effects on the radial evolution of turbulent energies in high-speed solar wind streams.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1183-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Parkinson ◽  
R. C. Healey ◽  
P. L. Dyson

Abstract. Multi-scale structure of the solar wind in the ecliptic at 1 AU undergoes significant evolution with the phase of the solar cycle. Wind spacecraft measurements during 1995 to 1998 and ACE spacecraft measurements during 1997 to 2005 were used to characterise the evolution of small-scale (~1 min to 2 h) fluctuations in the solar wind speed vsw, magnetic energy density B2, and solar wind ε parameter, in the context of large-scale (~1 day to years) variations. The large-scale variation in ε most resembled large-scale variations in B2. The probability density of large fluctuations in ε and B2 both had strong minima during 1995, a familiar signature of solar minimum. Generalized Structure Function (GSF) analysis was used to estimate inertial range scaling exponents aGSF and their evolution throughout 1995 to 2005. For the entire data set, the weighted average scaling exponent for small-scale fluctuations in vsw was aGSF=0.284±0.001, a value characteristic of intermittent MHD turbulence (>1/4), whereas the scaling exponents for corresponding fluctuations in B2 and ε were aGSF=0.395±0.001 and 0.334±0.001, respectively. These values are between the range expected for Gaussian fluctuations (1/2) and Kolmogorov turbulence (1/3). However, the scaling exponent for ε changed from a Gaussian-Kolmogorov value of 0.373±0.005 during 1997 (end of solar minimum) to an MHD turbulence value of 0.247±0.004 during 2003 (recurrent fast streams). Changes in the characteristics of solar wind turbulence may be reproducible from one solar cycle to the next.


Author(s):  
G. G. Howes

A dynamical approach, rather than the usual statistical approach, is taken to explore the physical mechanisms underlying the nonlinear transfer of energy, the damping of the turbulent fluctuations, and the development of coherent structures in kinetic plasma turbulence. It is argued that the linear and nonlinear dynamics of Alfvén waves are responsible, at a very fundamental level, for some of the key qualitative features of plasma turbulence that distinguish it from hydrodynamic turbulence, including the anisotropic cascade of energy and the development of current sheets at small scales. The first dynamical model of kinetic turbulence in the weakly collisional solar wind plasma that combines self-consistently the physics of Alfvén waves with the development of small-scale current sheets is presented and its physical implications are discussed. This model leads to a simplified perspective on the nature of turbulence in a weakly collisional plasma: the nonlinear interactions responsible for the turbulent cascade of energy and the formation of current sheets are essentially fluid in nature, while the collisionless damping of the turbulent fluctuations and the energy injection by kinetic instabilities are essentially kinetic in nature.


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