What are Switchbacks?
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Hauptverfasser: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866915673349816320 |
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| author | Huang, Zesen Velli, Marco Ding, Yuliang |
| author_facet | Huang, Zesen Velli, Marco Ding, Yuliang |
| contents | We present a solitary Alfvén wave model that exhibits nontrivial three-dimensional twisting of open magnetic field lines while preserving constant $|B|$. Embedded rotational discontinuities sharply deflect the otherwise uniform field lines, producing localized, large-amplitude field reversals in one-dimensional profiles that closely resemble the ``switchbacks'' observed by the Parker Solar Probe in the inner heliosphere. This indicates that switchbacks, as seen in one-dimensional spacecraft time series, arise from traversals through strongly curved segments of open magnetic field lines. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_12585 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | What are Switchbacks? Huang, Zesen Velli, Marco Ding, Yuliang Space Physics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Fluid Dynamics Plasma Physics We present a solitary Alfvén wave model that exhibits nontrivial three-dimensional twisting of open magnetic field lines while preserving constant $|B|$. Embedded rotational discontinuities sharply deflect the otherwise uniform field lines, producing localized, large-amplitude field reversals in one-dimensional profiles that closely resemble the ``switchbacks'' observed by the Parker Solar Probe in the inner heliosphere. This indicates that switchbacks, as seen in one-dimensional spacecraft time series, arise from traversals through strongly curved segments of open magnetic field lines. |
| title | What are Switchbacks? |
| topic | Space Physics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Fluid Dynamics Plasma Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.12585 |