Search Publications
Compressive Coherent Structures at Ion Scales in the Slow Solar Wind
Maksimovic, M.; Alexandrova, O.; Kasper, J. C. +5 more
We present a study of magnetic field fluctuations in a slow solar wind stream, close to ion scales, where an increase of the level of magnetic compressibility is observed. Here, the nature of these compressive fluctuations is found to be characterized by coherent structures. Although previous studies have shown that current sheets can be considere…
The Complex Structure of Magnetic Field Discontinuities in the Turbulent Solar Wind
Perri, S.; Veltri, P.; Yordanova, E. +2 more
Using high-resolution Cluster satellite observations and a multi-dimensional intermittency technique, we show that the magnetic discontinuities in the turbulent solar wind are connected through the spatial scales, going from proton down to electron scales. In some circumstances, their structure resembles the Harris equilibrium profile in plasmas. …
Subproton-scale Cascades in Solar Wind Turbulence: Driven Hybrid-kinetic Simulations
Rincon, F.; Califano, F.; Cerri, S. S. +2 more
A long-lasting debate in space plasma physics concerns the nature of subproton-scale fluctuations in solar wind (SW) turbulence. Over the past decade, a series of theoretical and observational studies were presented in favor of either kinetic Alfvén wave (KAW) or whistler turbulence. Here, we investigate numerically the nature of the subproton-sca…
Suprathermal Electron Strahl Widths in the Presence of Narrow-band Whistler Waves in the Solar Wind
Fazakerley, A. N.; Maksimovic, M.; Alexandrova, O. +2 more
We perform the first statistical study of the effects of the interaction of suprathermal electrons with narrow-band whistler mode waves in the solar wind (SW). We show that this interaction does occur and that it is associated with enhanced widths of the so-called strahl component. The latter is directed along the interplanetary magnetic field awa…
The Dynamical Generation of Current Sheets in Astrophysical Plasma Turbulence
Howes, Gregory G.
Turbulence profoundly affects particle transport and plasma heating in many astrophysical plasma environments, from galaxy clusters to the solar corona and solar wind to Earth's magnetosphere. Both fluid and kinetic simulations of plasma turbulence ubiquitously generate coherent structures, in the form of current sheets, at small scales, and the l…
Reconnection Properties of Large-scale Current Sheets During Coronal Mass Ejection Eruptions
Lynch, B. J.; Guidoni, S. E.; Edmondson, J. K. +1 more
We present a detailed analysis of the properties of magnetic reconnection at large-scale current sheets (CSs) in a high cadence version of the Lynch & Edmondson 2.5D MHD simulation of sympathetic magnetic breakout eruptions from a pseudostreamer source region. We examine the resistive tearing and break-up of the three main CSs into chains of X…
Ion Dynamics at a Rippled Quasi-parallel Shock: 2D Hybrid Simulations
Wang, Shui; Hao, Yufei; Lu, Quanming +1 more
In this paper, two-dimensional hybrid simulations are performed to investigate ion dynamics at a rippled quasi-parallel shock. The results show that the ripples around the shock front are inherent structures of a quasi-parallel shock, and the re-formation of the shock is not synchronous along the surface of the shock front. By following the trajec…
Ion Acceleration at the Quasi-parallel Bow Shock: Decoding the Signature of Injection
Burgess, D.; Sundberg, Torbjörn; Haynes, Christopher T. +1 more
Collisionless shocks are efficient particle accelerators. At Earth, ions with energies exceeding 100 keV are seen upstream of the bow shock when the magnetic geometry is quasi-parallel, and large-scale supernova remnant shocks can accelerate ions into cosmic-ray energies. This energization is attributed to diffusive shock acceleration however, for…
The Effects of Kinetic Instabilities on Small-scale Turbulence in Earth’s Magnetosheath
Vaivads, A.; Alexandrova, O.; Breuillard, H. +1 more
The Earth's magnetosheath is the region delimited by the bow shock and the magnetopause. It is characterized by highly turbulent fluctuations covering all scales from MHD down to kinetic scales. Turbulence is thought to play a fundamental role in key processes such as energy transport and dissipation in plasma. In addition to turbulence, different…
Turbulence-generated Proton-scale Structures in the Terrestrial Magnetosheath
Echim, Marius M.; Consolini, Giuseppe; Vörös, Zoltán +2 more
Recent results of numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations suggest that in collisionless space plasmas, turbulence can spontaneously generate thin current sheets. These coherent structures can partially explain the intermittency and the non-homogenous distribution of localized plasma heating in turbulence. In this Letter, Cluster multi-point obse…