No Arabic abstract
Aims. To determine the effect of the Hall term in the generalised Ohms law on the damping and phase mixing of Alfven waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies in uniform and non-uniform equilibrium plasmas. Methods. Wave damping in a uniform plasma is treated analytically, whilst a Lagrangian remap code (Lare2d) is used to study Hall effects on damping and phase mixing in the presence of an equilibrium density gradient. Results. The magnetic energy associated with an initially Gaussian field perturbation in a uniform resistive plasma is shown to decay algebraically at a rate that is unaffected by the Hall term to leading order in k^2di^2 where k is wavenumber and di is ion skin depth. A similar algebraic decay law applies to whistler perturbations in the limit k^2di^2>>1. In a non-uniform plasma it is found that the spatially-integrated damping rate due to phase mixing is lower in Hall MHD than it is in MHD, but the reduction in the damping rate, which can be attributed to the effects of wave dispersion, tends to zero in both the weak and strong phase mixing limits.
Alfv{e}nic turbulent cascade perpendicular and parallel to the background magnetic field is studied accounting for anisotropic dispersive effects and turbulent intermittency. The perpendicular dispersion and intermittency make the perpendicular-wavenumber magnetic spectra steeper and speed up production of high ion-cyclotron frequencies by the turbulent cascade. On the contrary, the parallel dispersion makes the spectra flatter and decelerate the frequency cascade above the ion-cyclotron frequency. Competition of the above factors results in spectral indices distributed in the interval [-2,-3], where -2 is the index of high-frequency space-filling turbulence, and -3 is the index of low-frequency intermittent turbulence formed by tube-like fluctuations. Spectra of fully intermittent turbulence fill a narrower range of spectral indices [-7/3,-3], which almost coincides with the range of indexes measured in the solar wind. This suggests that the kinetic-scale turbulent spectra are shaped mainly by dispersion and intermittency. A small mismatch with measured indexes of about 0.1 can be associated with damping effects not studied here.
We study how the frequencies and damping times of oscillations of a newly born, hot proto-neutron star depend on the physical quantities which characterize the star quasi-stationary evolution which follows the bounce. Stellar configurations are modeled using a microscopic equation of state obtained within the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock, nuclear many-body approach, extended to the finite-temperature regime. We discuss the mode frequency behaviour as function of the lepton composition, and of the entropy gradients which prevail in the interior of the star. We find that, in the very early stages, gravitational wave emission efficiently competes with neutrino processes in dissipating the star mechanical energy residual of the gravitational collapse.
We investigate theoretically how sheath radio-frequency (RF) oscillations relate to the spatial structure of the near RF parallel electric field E// emitted by Ion Cyclotron (IC) wave launchers. We use a simple model of Slow Wave (SW) evanescence coupled with Direct Current (DC) plasma biasing via sheath boundary conditions in a 3D parallelepiped filled with homogeneous cold magnetized plasma. Within a wide sheaths asymptotic regime, valid for large-amplitude near RF fields, the RF part of this simple RF+DC model becomes linear: the sheath oscillating voltage VRF at open field line boundaries can be re-expressed as a linear combination of individual contributions by every emitting point in the input field map. SW evanescence makes individual contributions all the larger as the wave emission point is located closer to the sheath walls. The decay of |VRF| with the emission point/sheath poloidal distance involves the transverse SW evanescence length and the radial protrusion depth of lateral boundaries. The decay of |VRF| with the emitter/sheath parallel distance is quantified as a function of the parallel SW evanescence length and the parallel connection length of open magnetic field lines. For realistic geometries and target SOL plasmas, poloidal decay occurs over a few centimeters. Typical parallel decay lengths for |VRF| are found smaller than IC antenna parallel extension. Oscillating sheath voltages at IC antenna side limiters are therefore mainly sensitive to E// emission by active or passive conducting elements near these limiters, as suggested by recent experimental observations. Parallel proximity effects could also explain why sheath oscillations persist with antisymmetric strap toroidal phasing, despite the parallel anti-symmetry of the radiated field map. They could finally justify current attempts at reducing the RF fields induced near antenna boxes to attenuate sheath oscillations in their vicinity.
We present numerical simulations of reduced magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) turbulence in a magnetic flux tube at the center of a polar coronal hole. The model for the background atmosphere is a solution of the momentum equation, and includes the effects of wave pressure on the solar wind outflow. Alfv{e}n waves are launched at the coronal base, and reflect at various heights due to variations in Alfv{e}n speed and outflow velocity. The turbulence is driven by nonlinear interactions between the counter-propagating Alfv{e}n waves. Results are presented for two models of the background atmosphere. In the first model the plasma density and Alfv{e}n speed vary smoothly with height, resulting in minimal wave reflections and low energy dissipation rates. We find that the dissipation rate is insufficient to maintain the temperature of the background atmosphere. The standard phenomenological formula for the dissipation rate significantly overestimates the rate derived from our RMHD simulations, and a revised formula is proposed. In the second model we introduce additional density variations along the flux tube with a correlation length of 0.04 $R_odot$ and with relative amplitude of $10 %$. These density variations simulate the effects of compressive MHD waves on the Alfv{e}n waves. We find that such variations significantly enhance the wave reflection and thereby the turbulent dissipation rates, producing enough heat to maintain the background atmosphere. We conclude that interactions between Alfv{e}n- and compressive waves may play an important role in the turbulent heating of the fast solar wind.
Context. The first studies with Parker Solar Probe (PSP) data have made significant progress toward the understanding of the fundamental properties of ion cyclotron waves in the inner heliosphere. The survey mode particle measurements of PSP, however, did not make it possible to measure the coupling between electromagnetic fields and particles on the time scale of the wave periods. Aims. We present a novel approach to study wave-particle energy exchange with PSP. Methods. We use the Flux Angle operation mode of the Solar Probe Cup in conjunction with the electric field measurements and present a case study when the Flux Angle mode measured the direct interaction of the proton velocity distribution with an ion cyclotron wave. Results. Our results suggest that the energy transfer from fields to particles on the timescale of a cyclotron period is equal to approximately 3-6% of the electromagnetic energy flux. This rate is consistent with the hypothesis that the ion cyclotron wave was locally generated in the solar wind.