scholarly journals Dynamic properties of small-scale solar wind plasma fluctuations

2015 ◽  
Vol 373 (2041) ◽  
pp. 20140146 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. O. Riazantseva ◽  
V. P. Budaev ◽  
L. M. Zelenyi ◽  
G. N. Zastenker ◽  
G. P. Pavlos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Poisson Model ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Break Point ◽  
Ion Flux ◽  
Statistical Characteristics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
High Temporal Resolution

The paper presents the latest results of the studies of small-scale fluctuations in a turbulent flow of solar wind (SW) using measurements with extremely high temporal resolution (up to 0.03 s) of the bright monitor of SW (BMSW) plasma spectrometer operating on astrophysical SPECTR-R spacecraft at distances up to 350 000 km from the Earth. The spectra of SW ion flux fluctuations in the range of scales between 0.03 and 100 s are systematically analysed. The difference of slopes in low- and high-frequency parts of spectra and the frequency of the break point between these two characteristic slopes was analysed for different conditions in the SW. The statistical properties of the SW ion flux fluctuations were thoroughly analysed on scales less than 10 s. A high level of intermittency is demonstrated. The extended self-similarity of SW ion flux turbulent flow is constantly observed. The approximation of non-Gaussian probability distribution function of ion flux fluctuations by the Tsallis statistics shows the non-extensive character of SW fluctuations. Statistical characteristics of ion flux fluctuations are compared with the predictions of a log-Poisson model. The log-Poisson parametrization of the structure function scaling has shown that well-defined filament-like plasma structures are, as a rule, observed in the turbulent SW flows.

Non-adiabatic interaction of ions with solar wind discontinuities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Vinogradov ◽  
Anton Artemyev ◽  
Ivan Vasko ◽  
Alexei Vasiliev ◽  
Anatoly Petrukovich
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ion Scattering ◽  
Ion Temperature ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Radial Evolution

<p>According to Helios, Ulysses, New Horizons measurements at a wide range of distances from the Sun, radial evolution of solar wind ion temperature significantly deviates from the adiabatic expansion model:  additional heating of the solar wind plasma is required to describe observational data. Solution of the solar wind heating problem is extremely important both for understanding the structure of the heliosphere and for adequately describing the atmospheres of distant stars. Solar wind magnetic field is turbulent and this turbulence is dominated by numerous small-scale high-amplitude coherent structures – such as quasi-1D discontinuities. Modern theoretical models predict that quasi-1D discontinuities can play important role in solar wind heating. We collected the statistics of MMS observations of thin quasi-1D discontinuities in the solar wind to reveal their characteristics. Analyzing observational data, we construct the discontinuity model and use it to consider non-adiabatic interaction of ions with solar wind discontinuities. We mainly focus on discontinuity roles in solar wind ion scattering and thermalization. This presentation shows how discontinuity configuration affects the scattering rates.</p>

scholarly journals Dispersive magnetized waves in the solar wind plasma

2010 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. DASGUPTA ◽  
DASTGEER SHAIKH ◽  
P. K. SHUKLA
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Dispersion Relation ◽  
Fluid Model ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Linear Dispersion ◽  
Length Scales ◽  
Linear Dispersion Relation ◽  
Two Fluid Model

AbstractWe derive a generalized linear dispersion relation of waves in a strongly magnetized, compressible, homogeneous and isotropic quasi-neutral plasma. Starting from a two-fluid model, describing distinguishable electron and ion fluids, we obtain a six-order linear dispersion relation of magnetized waves that contains effects due to electron and ion inertia, finite plasma beta and angular dependence of phase speed. We investigate propagation characteristics of these magnetized waves in a regime where scale lengths are comparable with electron and ion inertial length scales. This regime corresponds essentially to the solar wind plasma, where length scales, comparable with ion cyclotron frequency, lead to dispersive effects. These scales in conjunction with linear waves present a great deal of challenges in understanding the high-frequency, small-scale dynamics of turbulent fluctuations in the solar wind plasma.

scholarly journals A dynamical model of plasma turbulence in the solar wind

2015 ◽  
Vol 373 (2041) ◽  
pp. 20140145 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. G. Howes
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Plasma Turbulence ◽  
Alfven Waves ◽  
Dynamical Model ◽  
Alfvén Waves ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Current Sheets ◽  
Turbulent Fluctuations ◽  
Physical Mechanisms

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.

Comparison of properties of small-scale ion flux fluctuations in the flank magnetosheath and in the solar wind

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.O. Riazantseva ◽  
V.P. Budaev ◽  
L.S. Rakhmanova ◽  
G.N. Zastenker ◽  
J. Šafránková ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Ion Flux ◽  
Small Scale

Small-scale variations of helium abundance in different large-scale solar wind structures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Khokhlachev ◽  
Maria Riazantseva ◽  
Liudmila Rakhmanova ◽  
Yuri Yermolaev ◽  
Irina Lodkina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Magnetic Clouds ◽  
Slow Solar Wind ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Plasma Stream ◽  
Helium Abundance ◽  
Russian Science ◽  
Plasma Parameters

<p>The boundaries between large-scale solar wind streams are often accompanied by sharp changes in helium abundance.  Wherein the high value of relative helium abundance is known as a sign of some large-scale solar wind structures ( for example magnetic clouds). Unlike the steady slow solar wind where the helium abundance is rather stable and equals ~5%, in magnetic clouds its value can grow significantly up to 20% and more, and at the same time helium component becomes more variable.  In this paper we analyze the small-scale variations of solar wind plasma parameters, including the helium abundance variations in different large-scale solar wind streams, especially in magnetic clouds and Sheath regions before them. We use rather long intervals of simultaneous measurements at Spektr-R (spectrometer BMSW) and Wind (spectrometer 3DP) spacecrafts.  We choose the intervals with rather high correlation  level of plasma parameters as a whole to be sure that we are deal with the same plasma stream.  The intervals associated with different large scale-solar wind structures are selected by using of our catalog ftp://ftp.iki.rssi.ru/pub/omni/catalog/. For selected intervals we examine cross-correlation function for Spektr-R and Wind measurements  to reveal the local spatial inhomogeneities by helium abundance which can be observed only at one of spacecrafts, and we determine properties of ones. Such inhomogeneities can be generate by turbulence, which is typically getting more intense in the considered disturbed intervals in the solar wind. The work is supported by Russian Science Foundation grant 16-12-10062.</p>

scholarly journals Turbulence and Microprocesses in Inhomogeneous Solar Wind Plasmas

Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Krafft ◽  
Alexander S. Volokitin ◽  
Gaëtan Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Energetic Electron ◽  
Langmuir Wave ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Density Fluctuations ◽  
Wave Radiation ◽  
Wave Turbulence ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Waves

The random density fluctuations observed in the solar wind plasma crucially influence on the Langmuir wave turbulence generated by energetic electron beams ejected during solar bursts. Those are powerful phenomena consisting of a chain of successive processes leading ultimately to strong electromagnetic emissions. The small-scale processes governing the interactions between the waves, the beams and the inhomogeneous plasmas need to be studied to explain such macroscopic phenomena. Moreover, the complexity induced by the plasma irregularities requires to find new approaches and modelling. Therefore theoretical and numerical tools were built to describe the Langmuir wave turbulence and the beam’s dynamics in inhomogeneous plasmas, in the form of a self-consistent Hamiltonian model including a fluid description for the plasma and a kinetic approach for the beam. On this basis, numerical simulations were performed in order to shed light on the impact of the density fluctuations on the beam dynamics, the electromagnetic wave radiation, the generation of Langmuir wave turbulence, the waves’ coupling and decay phenomena involving Langmuir and low frequency waves, the acceleration of beam electrons, their diffusion mechanisms, the modulation of the Langmuir waveforms and the statistical properties of the radiated fields’ distributions. The paper presents the main results obtained in the form of a review.

The characteristics of sharp (small-scale) boundaries of solar wind plasma and magnetic field structures

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2147-2151 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.O. Riazantseva ◽  
G.N. Zastenker ◽  
J.D. Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Small Scale

Small scale solar wind ion flux and IMF quasi-harmonical structures in the earth's foreshock: INTERBALL-1 and MAGION-4 observations

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 2725-2729 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Eiges ◽  
G. Zastenker ◽  
M. Nozdrachev ◽  
N. Rybyeva ◽  
J. Safrankova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Ion Flux ◽  
Small Scale

scholarly journals The solar wind plasma density control of night-time auroral particle precipitation

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1047-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. G. Vorobjev ◽  
B. V. Rezhenov ◽  
O. I. Yagodkina
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Plasma Density ◽  
Plasma Sheet ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Ion Flux ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Particle Precipitation ◽  
Ion Energy ◽  
Flux Enhancement ◽  
Density Control

Abstract. DMSP F6 and F7 spacecraft observations of the average electron and ion energy, and energy fluxes in different night-time precipitation regions for the whole of 1986 were used to examine the precipitation features associated with solar wind density changes. It was found that during magnetic quietness |AL|<100nT), the enhancement of average ion fluxes was observed at least two times, along with the solar wind plasma density increase from 2 to 24cm–3. More pronounced was the ion flux enhancement that occurred in the b2i–b4s and b4s–b5 regions, which are approximately corresponding to the statistical auroral oval and map to the magnetospheric plasma sheet tailward of the isotropy boundary. The average ion energy decrease of about 2–4kev was registered simultaneously with this ion flux enhancement. The results verify the occurrence of effective penetration of the solar wind plasma into the magnetospheric tail plasma sheet. Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere, particle precipitation) – Magnetospheric physics (solar windmagnetosphere interaction)

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