Anisotropy of Density Fluctuations in the Solar Wind at 1 au

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Wang, Jiaming, Chhiber, Rohit, Roy, Sohom, Cuesta, Manuel E., Pecora, Francesco, Yang, Yan, Fu, Xiangrong, Li, Hui, Matthaeus, William H.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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_version_ 1866917649510825984
author Wang, Jiaming
Chhiber, Rohit
Roy, Sohom
Cuesta, Manuel E.
Pecora, Francesco
Yang, Yan
Fu, Xiangrong
Li, Hui
Matthaeus, William H.
author_facet Wang, Jiaming
Chhiber, Rohit
Roy, Sohom
Cuesta, Manuel E.
Pecora, Francesco
Yang, Yan
Fu, Xiangrong
Li, Hui
Matthaeus, William H.
contents A well-known property of solar wind plasma turbulence is the observed anisotropy of the autocorrelations, or equivalently the spectra, of velocity and magnetic field fluctuations. Here we explore the related but apparently not well-studied issue of the anisotropy of plasma density fluctuations in the energy-containing and inertial ranges of solar wind turbulence. Using 10 years (1998-2008) of in situ data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) mission, we find that for all but the fastest wind category, the density correlation scale is slightly larger in directions quasi-parallel to the large-scale mean magnetic field as compared to quasi-perpendicular directions. The correlation scale in fast wind is consistent with isotropic. The anisotropy as a function of the level of correlation is also explored. We find at small correlation levels, i.e., at energy-containing scales and larger, the density fluctuations are close to isotropy for fast wind, and slightly favor more rapid decorrelation in perpendicular directions for slow and medium winds. At relatively smaller (inertial range) scales where the correlation values are larger, the sense of anisotropy is reversed in all speed ranges, implying a more "slab-like" structure, especially prominent in the fast wind samples. We contrast this finding with published results on velocity and magnetic field correlations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_05191
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Anisotropy of Density Fluctuations in the Solar Wind at 1 au
Wang, Jiaming
Chhiber, Rohit
Roy, Sohom
Cuesta, Manuel E.
Pecora, Francesco
Yang, Yan
Fu, Xiangrong
Li, Hui
Matthaeus, William H.
Space Physics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Plasma Physics
A well-known property of solar wind plasma turbulence is the observed anisotropy of the autocorrelations, or equivalently the spectra, of velocity and magnetic field fluctuations. Here we explore the related but apparently not well-studied issue of the anisotropy of plasma density fluctuations in the energy-containing and inertial ranges of solar wind turbulence. Using 10 years (1998-2008) of in situ data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) mission, we find that for all but the fastest wind category, the density correlation scale is slightly larger in directions quasi-parallel to the large-scale mean magnetic field as compared to quasi-perpendicular directions. The correlation scale in fast wind is consistent with isotropic. The anisotropy as a function of the level of correlation is also explored. We find at small correlation levels, i.e., at energy-containing scales and larger, the density fluctuations are close to isotropy for fast wind, and slightly favor more rapid decorrelation in perpendicular directions for slow and medium winds. At relatively smaller (inertial range) scales where the correlation values are larger, the sense of anisotropy is reversed in all speed ranges, implying a more "slab-like" structure, especially prominent in the fast wind samples. We contrast this finding with published results on velocity and magnetic field correlations.
title Anisotropy of Density Fluctuations in the Solar Wind at 1 au
topic Space Physics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.05191