A Short-timescale Channel of Dissipation of the Strong Solar Wind Turbulence

Hybrid numerical simulations of a turbulent cascade nearly perpendicular to the background magnetic field are carried out at the proton kinetic scales. It is shown that the cascade produces exponentially growing current sheets previously observed in fluid simulations. In the kinetic limit, the sheet...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Astrophysical journal Vol. 739; no. 1; pp. 22 - jQuery1323903372380='48'
Main Authors Markovskii, S. A, Vasquez, Bernard J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol IOP Publishing 20.09.2011
IOP
Subjects
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Protons
Magnetic reconnection
Current layers
Digital simulation
Strong turbulence
Fast variation
Magnetic fields
turbulence
Electric fields
Solar wind
Hybrid simulation
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Hybrid numerical simulations of a turbulent cascade nearly perpendicular to the background magnetic field are carried out at the proton kinetic scales. It is shown that the cascade produces exponentially growing current sheets previously observed in fluid simulations. In the kinetic limit, the sheets are developing on a timescale as fast as the proton gyration. The rapid variations of the electric field associated with the sheets can demagnetize the protons and increase their thermal energy preferentially across the mean magnetic field. The relevance of this mechanism to the solar wind heating is discussed.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/739/1/22