Hybrid simulations of preferential heating of heavy ions in the solar wind

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Solar Wind Plasma, Sources Of Solar Wind

Scientific paper

We present results from the first fully self-consistent 1D hybrid (kinetic ions/fluid electrons) simulations of the preferential heating of alphas and heavier minor ions by a flat spectrum of Alfvén-ion cyclotron waves in a collisionless plasma. We find that the simulations reproduce the observed solar wind scaling T~M for alphas and heavier minor ions when the alphas and the minor ions have equal charge to mass ratios, q/M, and equal initial thermal velocities, Vth=(T/M)1/2. This scaling is interpreted as a result of the basic physics: the time evolution of the Vlasov/Maxwell system without collisions depends only on the ratio q/M and not q or M separately. Because this result follows from the basic nature of the physical model, the T~M scaling would be obtained for any spectrum of waves. For minor ions with q/M different from the alphas but equal initial thermal velocities, the final thermal velocity is seen to vary by +/-50% from that of the alphas in the simulations presented here. .

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Hybrid simulations of preferential heating of heavy ions in the solar wind does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Hybrid simulations of preferential heating of heavy ions in the solar wind, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Hybrid simulations of preferential heating of heavy ions in the solar wind will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1523669

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.