Search Publications
Identification of Kinetic Alfvén Wave Turbulence in the Solar Wind
Bale, S. D.; Chen, C. H. K.; Mozer, F. S. +4 more
The nature of small-scale turbulent fluctuations in the solar wind is investigated using a comparison of Cluster magnetic and electric field measurements to predictions arising from models consisting of either kinetic Alfvén waves or whistler waves. The electric and magnetic field properties of these waves from linear theory are used to construct …
Solar Wind Turbulent Spectrum at Plasma Kinetic Scales
Maksimovic, M.; Alexandrova, O.; Mangeney, A. +2 more
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 e…
New Insight into Short-wavelength Solar Wind Fluctuations from Vlasov Theory
Belmont, G.; Sahraoui, F.; Goldstein, M. L.
The nature of solar wind (SW) turbulence below the proton gyroscale is a topic that is being investigated extensively nowadays, both theoretically and observationally. Although recent observations gave evidence of the dominance of kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) at sub-ion scales with ω < ωci, other studies suggest that the KAW mode cann…
Forward Cascade of Whistler Turbulence: Three-dimensional Particle-in-cell Simulations
Gary, S. Peter; Chang, Ouliang; Wang, Joseph
This manuscript describes the first ensemble of three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulations of whistler turbulence. The computational model represents a collisionless, homogeneous, magnetized plasma on which an initial spectrum of relatively long wavelength whistler fluctuations is imposed. The simulations represent a range of…
Investigation of Intermittency in Magnetohydrodynamics and Solar Wind Turbulence: Scale-dependent Kurtosis
Oughton, Sean; Matthaeus, William H.; Wan, Minping +1 more
The behavior of scale-dependent (or filtered) kurtosis is studied in the solar wind using magnetic field measurements from the ACE and Cluster spacecraft at 1 AU. It is also analyzed numerically with high-resolution magnetohydrodynamic spectral simulations. In each case the filtered kurtosis increases with wavenumber, implying the presence of cohe…