SOLAR WIND TURBULENT SPECTRUM AT PLASMA KINETIC SCALES

The description of the turbulent spectrum of magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind in the kinetic range of scales is not yet completely established. Here, we perform a statistical study of 100 spectra measured by the STAFF instrument on the Cluster mission, which allows us to resolve turbulent fluctuations from ion scales down to a fraction of electron scales, i.e., from ~102 km to ~300 m. We show that for k ⊥ρ e [0.03, 3] (which corresponds approximately to the frequency in the spacecraft frame f [3, 300] Hz), all the observed spectra can be described by a general law E(k ⊥)k –8/3 ⊥exp (– k ⊥ρ e ), where k ⊥ is the wavevector component normal to the background magnetic field and ρ e the electron Larmor radius. This exponential tail found in the solar wind seems compatible with the Landau damping of magnetic fluctuations onto electrons.

[1]  L. Weinstein,et al.  The legacy. , 2004, Journal of gerontological nursing.

[2]  T. Horbury,et al.  Anisotropy of solar wind turbulence between ion and electron scales. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[3]  P. Kellogg,et al.  Electrostatic noise at the plasma frequency beyond the earth's bow shock , 1979 .

[4]  J. Steinberg,et al.  Proton temperature anisotropy constraint in the solar wind: ACE observations , 2001 .

[5]  S. Boldyrev,et al.  SPECTRUM OF KINETIC-ALFVÉN TURBULENCE , 2012, 1204.5809.

[6]  J. Scudder,et al.  Electron plasma waves upstream of the Earth's bow shock , 1985 .

[7]  W. Dorland,et al.  A weakened cascade model for turbulence in astrophysical plasmas , 2011, 1109.4158.

[8]  P. Canu,et al.  Three dimensional anisotropic κ spectra of turbulence at subproton scales in the solar wind. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[9]  T. Horbury,et al.  Measurement of the electric fluctuation spectrum of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. , 2005, Physical review letters.

[10]  C. P. Escoubet,et al.  CLUSTER – SCIENCE AND MISSION OVERVIEW , 1997 .

[11]  Kathleen E. Hamilton,et al.  Dependence of the Dissipation Range Spectrum of Interplanetary Magnetic Fluctuationson the Rate of Energy Cascade , 2006 .

[12]  S. Schwartz,et al.  Universality of solar-wind turbulent spectrum from MHD to electron scales. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[13]  Chen,et al.  Far-dissipation range of turbulence. , 1993, Physical review letters.

[14]  Hui Li,et al.  On the dissipation of magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind , 2001 .

[15]  E. Quataert,et al.  Magnetic fluctuation power near proton temperature anisotropy instability thresholds in the solar wind. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[16]  U. Frisch.  Turbulence: The Legacy of A. N. Kolmogorov , 1996 .

[17]  S. Sridhar,et al.  Toward a theory of interstellar turbulence. 2. Strong Alfvenic turbulence , 1994 .

[18]  L. Sorriso-Valvo,et al.  Small-Scale Energy Cascade of the Solar Wind Turbulence , 2007, 0710.0763.

[19]  Charles W. Smith,et al.  OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE ROLE OF CYCLOTRON DAMPING AND KINETIC ALFVÉN WAVES IN THE SOLAR WIND , 2012 .

[20]  On spectral scaling laws for incompressible anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence , 2005, physics/0504207.

[21]  E. Buchlin,et al.  Multiscale Hall-Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence in the Solar Wind , 2006, astro-ph/0610759.

[22]  F. Mozer,et al.  IDENTIFICATION OF KINETIC ALFVÉN WAVE TURBULENCE IN THE SOLAR WIND , 2012 .

[23]  Charles W. Smith,et al.  Dissipation range dynamics: Kinetic Alfvn waves and the importance of , 1999 .

[24]  S. Gary,et al.  MAGNETIC HELICITY SPECTRUM OF SOLAR WIND FLUCTUATIONS AS A FUNCTION OF THE ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE LOCAL MEAN MAGNETIC FIELD , 2011 .

[25]  E. Marsch,et al.  On the origin of solar wind MHD turbulence: Helios data revisited , 1990 .

[26]  C. Torrence,et al.  A Practical Guide to Wavelet Analysis. , 1998 .

[27]  L. Sorriso-Valvo,et al.  Solar wind Cluster observations: Turbulent spectrum and role of Hall effect , 2007 .

[28]  O. Alexandrova.  Solar wind vs magnetosheath turbulence and Alfvén vortices , 2008 .

[29]  Y. Narita,et al.  Inertial-range spectrum of whistler turbulence , 2010 .

[30]  H. K. Wong,et al.  Observational constraints on the dynamics of the interplanetary magnetic field dissipation range , 1998 .

[31]  A. Bhattacharjee,et al.  Anisotropic weak whistler wave turbulence in electron magnetohydrodynamics , 2003 .

[32]  S. Schwartz,et al.  Solar wind turbulent spectrum from MHD to electron scales , 2009, 0912.2668.

[33]  Petr Hellinger,et al.  Evolution of the solar wind proton temperature anisotropy from 0.3 to 2.5 AU , 2007 .

[34]  Drake,et al.  Two-dimensional electron magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. , 1996, Physical review letters.

[35]  J. Etcheto,et al.  Detailed study of electron plasma waves upstream of the Earth’s bow shock , 1984 .

[36]  A. Kolmogorov,et al.  The local structure of turbulence in incompressible viscous fluid for very large Reynolds numbers , 1991, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[37]  J. Borovsky,et al.  A KINETIC ALFVÉN WAVE CASCADE SUBJECT TO COLLISIONLESS DAMPING CANNOT REACH ELECTRON SCALES IN THE SOLAR WIND AT 1 AU , 2009, 0912.4026.

[38]  M. Maksimović,et al.  ON SPECTRAL BREAKS IN THE POWER SPECTRA OF MAGNETIC FLUCTUATIONS IN FAST SOLAR WIND BETWEEN 0.3 AND 0.9 AU , 2012 .

[39]  William Dorland,et al.  Astrophysical Gyrokinetics: Basic Equations and Linear Theory , 2005, astro-ph/0511812.

[40]  W. Matthaeus,et al.  MHD-driven Kinetic Dissipation in the Solar Wind and Corona , 2000 .

[41]  Hui Li,et al.  Solar wind magnetic fluctuation spectra: Dispersion versus damping , 2001 .

[42]  W. Dorland,et al.  ASTROPHYSICAL GYROKINETICS: KINETIC AND FLUID TURBULENT CASCADES IN MAGNETIZED WEAKLY COLLISIONAL PLASMAS , 2007, 0704.0044.

[43]  Petr Hellinger,et al.  Ion Kinetics in the Solar Wind: Coupling Global Expansion to Local Microphysics , 2012 .

[44]  J. M. Nappa,et al.  The Cluster Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Field Fluctuations (STAFF) Experiment , 1997 .