THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE

We present a measurement of the scale-dependent, three-dimensional structure of the magnetic field fluctuations in inertial range solar wind turbulence with respect to a local, physically motivated coordinate system. The Alfvenic fluctuations are three-dimensionally anisotropic, with the sense of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2012-10, Vol.758 (2), p.1-5
Main Authors: CHEN, C. H. K, MALLET, A, SCHEKOCHIHIN, A. A, HORBURY, T. S, WICKS, R. T, BALE, S. D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ALFVEN WAVES
ANISOTROPY
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
AXIAL SYMMETRY
COORDINATES
CORRELATIONS
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Fluctuation
FLUCTUATIONS
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MEAN-FIELD THEORY
PLASMA
SOLAR PROTONS
SOLAR WIND
Three dimensional
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TURBULENCE
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Summary:We present a measurement of the scale-dependent, three-dimensional structure of the magnetic field fluctuations in inertial range solar wind turbulence with respect to a local, physically motivated coordinate system. The Alfvenic fluctuations are three-dimensionally anisotropic, with the sense of this anisotropy varying from large to small scales. At the outer scale, the magnetic field correlations are longest in the local fluctuation direction, consistent with Alfven waves. At the proton gyroscale, they are longest along the local mean field direction and shortest in the direction perpendicular to the local mean field and the local field fluctuation. The compressive fluctuations are highly elongated along the local mean field direction, although axially symmetric perpendicular to it. Their large anisotropy may explain why they are not heavily damped in the solar wind.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/758/2/120