Osman, K. T., Matthaeus, W. H., Hnat, B. and Chapman, Sandra C. (2012) Kinetic signatures and intermittent turbulence in the solar wind plasma. Physical Review Letters, Vol.108 (No.26). Article no. 261103. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.261103 ISSN 0031-9007.

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Abstract

A connection between kinetic processes and intermittent turbulence is observed in the solar wind plasma using measurements from the Wind spacecraft at 1 A.U. In particular, kinetic effects such as temperature anisotropy and plasma heating are concentrated near coherent structures, such as current sheets, which are nonuniformly distributed in space. Furthermore, these coherent structures are preferentially found in plasma unstable to the mirror and firehose instabilities. The inhomogeneous heating in these regions, which is present in both the magnetic field parallel and perpendicular temperature components, results in protons at least 3-4 times hotter than under typical stable plasma conditions. These results offer a new understanding of kinetic processes in a turbulent regime, where linear Vlasov theory is not sufficient to explain the inhomogeneous plasma dynamics operating near non-Gaussian structures.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics
Journal or Publication Title:	Physical Review Letters
Publisher:	American Physical Society
ISSN:	0031-9007
Official Date:	2012
Dates:	Date Event 2012 Published
Volume:	Vol.108
Number:	No.26
Page Range:	Article no. 261103
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.261103
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

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