Statistical Study of ICW Events and Associated Ion Velocity Distributions in the Inner Heliosphere

<p>Ion cyclotron waves (ICWs) frequently occur in the solar wind and are detected by PSP within 0.3 AU (Bowen et al. 2020), by MESSENGER from 0.3 AU to 0.7 AU (Jian et al. 2010, Boardsen et al. 2015) and by STEREO at 1 AU (Jian et al. 2009; He et al. 2011). However, the relation between the wave properties and the kinetic features of different ion components (proton core, proton beam and helium) are not widely discussed in the existing literature. We statistically analyze the polarization and propagation properties of hundreds of ICW events using measurements from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. We find three types of ICW events in terms of their occurrence and duration: clustering ICW events with long durations; sporadic ICW events immersed in a quiet background magnetic field; and ICW events alongside discontinuities. We perform an investigation of the ion velocity distribution functions (VDFs) and draw comparisons of the kinetic behavior of each ion component during intervals with and without ICWs. The plasma parameters of the different ion components are acquired by our newly developed fitting program.</p>

Proton core behaviour inside magnetic field switchbacks

ABSTRACT During Parker Solar Probe’s first two orbits, there are widespread observations of rapid magnetic field reversals known as switchbacks. These switchbacks are extensively found in the near-Sun solar wind, appear to occur in patches, and have possible links to various phenomena such as magnetic reconnection near the solar surface. As switchbacks are associated with faster plasma flows, we questioned whether they are hotter than the background plasma and whether the microphysics inside a switchback is different to its surroundings. We have studied the reduced distribution functions from the Solar Probe Cup instrument and considered time periods with markedly large angular deflections to compare parallel temperatures inside and outside switchbacks. We have shown that the reduced distribution functions inside switchbacks are consistent with a rigid velocity space rotation of the background plasma. As such, we conclude that the proton core parallel temperature is very similar inside and outside of switchbacks, implying that a temperature–velocity (T–V) relationship does not hold for the proton core parallel temperature inside magnetic field switchbacks. We further conclude that switchbacks are consistent with Alfvénic pulses travelling along open magnetic field lines. The origin of these pulses, however, remains unknown. We also found that there is no obvious link between radial Poynting flux and kinetic energy enhancements suggesting that the radial Poynting flux is not important for the dynamics of switchbacks.

This The Neutron Meta-Particles and their Decay as Viewed in the Planck Vacuum Theory

The mean life of the free neutron is about fifteen minutes, after which it decays into a proton plus an electron and an electron-neutrino. According to the Planck vacuum (PV) theory, however, it is the neutron and ``antineutron" meta-particles (MP)s that decay, in roughly fifteen minutes, into the stable electron and proton cores. The electron and proton core spins remain constant during the transformations-so there is no need for the neutrino spin correction during the decay process, bringing into question the validity of the neutrino itself.

The Seven-Dimensional Spacetime in the Planck Vacuum Theory and the Structure of the Electron and Proton Cores

The electron and proton cores in the Planck vacuum (PV) theory are reccognizable elementary particles that obey the manisestly covariant Dirac equation and that are coupled to the PV state. (This statement and similar statements to follow also apply to the electron-core and the proton-core antiparticles.) This paper derives the corresponding 2x1 spinor-wavefunction equations for these cores, leading to a 7-dimensional spacetime that consists of two 4-dimensional spacetimes, the result of a bifurcated vacuum state. Both the electron and proton cores contain structure, where the electron core structure is orders of magnitude smaller than the proton-core structure. The core structure is easily reccognized in the calculations, as is particle-antiparticle annihilation. The difference between the electron and proton cores and their electron and proton particles is that the latter contain radiative corrections.