Kinetic Simulations of Magnetized Turbulence in Astrophysical Plasmas

Details Kinetic Simulations of Magnetized Turbulence in Astrophysical Plasmas Kinetic Simulations of Magnetized Turbulence in Astrophysical Plasmas

2007-11-27

arxiv.org/abs/0711.4355v1

Phys.Rev.Lett.100:065004,2008

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.065004

This letter presents the first ab initio, fully electromagnetic, kinetic simulations of magnetized turbulence in a homogeneous, weakly collisional plasma at the scale of the ion Larmor radius (ion gyroscale). Magnetic and electric-field energy spectra show a break at the ion gyroscale; the spectral slopes are consistent with scaling predictions for critically balanced turbulence of Alfven waves above the ion gyroscale (spectral index -5/3) and of kinetic Alfven waves below the ion gyroscale (spectral indices of -7/3 for magnetic and -1/3 for electric fluctuations). This behavior is also qualitatively consistent with in situ measurements of turbulence in the solar wind. Our findings support the hypothesis that the frequencies of turbulent fluctuations in the solar wind remain well below the ion cyclotron frequency both above and below the ion gyroscale.

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