Magnetic field rotations in the solar wind at kinetic scales
File(s)
Accepted version
Published version
OA Location
Author(s)
Chen, CHK
Matteini, L
Burgess, D
Horbury, T
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The solar wind magnetic field contains rotations at a broad range of scales, which have been extensively studied in the magnetohydrodynamics range. Here, we present an extension of this analysis to the range between ion and electron kinetic scales. The distribution of rotation angles was found to be approximately lognormal, shifting to smaller angles at smaller scales almost self-similarly, but with small, statistically significant changes of shape. The fraction of energy in fluctuations with angles larger than α was found to drop approximately exponentially with α, with e-folding angle 9.8° at ion scales and 0.66° at electron scales, showing that large angles (α > 30°) do not contain a significant amount of energy at kinetic scales. Implications for kinetic turbulence theory and the dissipation of solar wind turbulence are discussed.
Date Issued
2015-08-22
Date Acceptance
2015-07-28
Citation
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 2015, 453 (1), pp.L64-L68
ISSN
1745-3933
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
L64
End Page
L68
Journal / Book Title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Volume
453
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2015 The Authors
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
magnetic fields
MHD
plasmas
turbulence
solar wind
ELECTRON MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE
PLASMA TURBULENCE
DISSIPATION RANGE
CURRENT SHEETS
DIRECTIONAL DISCONTINUITIES
ASTROPHYSICAL GYROKINETICS
DENSITY-FLUCTUATIONS
TAYLOR HYPOTHESIS
MHD TURBULENCE
PROTON SCALES
physics.space-ph
astro-ph.SR
physics.plasm-ph
0201 Astronomical And Space Sciences
Publication Status
Published