Effect of background density fluctuations on the localized structures of inertial Alfvén wave and turbulent spectrum

In the present paper, we have investigated the nonlinear evolution of three dimensionally (3D) propagating inertial Alfvén wave (IAW) in the presence of background density fluctuations for low β plasma. The ponderomotive force, due to IAW and modified background plasma density, has been taken into a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of plasmas 2015-11, Vol.22 (11)
Main Authors: Sharma, R. P., Kumari, Anju, Yadav, Nitin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Auroral zones
Evolution
Magnetohydrodynamics
Mathematical models
Plasma
Plasma density
Plasma physics
Variation
Wave propagation
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Summary:In the present paper, we have investigated the nonlinear evolution of three dimensionally (3D) propagating inertial Alfvén wave (IAW) in the presence of background density fluctuations for low β plasma. The ponderomotive force, due to IAW and modified background plasma density, has been taken into account in order to develop the model equation. The governing equation has been solved numerically as well as semi-analytically to study the effect of background fluctuations on the evolution of IAW. Results reveal that the IAW gets localized and breaks up into intense localized structures. These localized structures are found to be influenced by the presence of background density fluctuations. To get the physical insight of this proposed interaction, a semi-analytical model based on the paraxial approximation has been developed. Resulting turbulent spectrum has also been studied for different levels of background fluctuations. As a result, it has been found that background density fluctuations affect the nonlinear evolution of IAW which may contribute towards the heating and acceleration of the plasma particles. The significance of the present work is pointed out with the observation received by the spacecraft FAST and Hawkeye1 in the auroral region.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.4935391