Thermal coupling of protons and neutral hydrogen in the fast solar wind

Statistics – Computation

Scientific paper

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Solar Wind, Neutral Gases, Solar Corona, Hydrogen Plasma, Solar Protons, Collisional Plasmas, Line Of Sight, Wave Propagation, Radiative Recombination

Scientific paper

We investigate the coupling between neutral hydrogen atoms and protons in the corona for a range of proton temperatures reaching a maximum of 6 x 10 exp 6 K. We adopt the approach used by Olsen et al. (1994), whereby the neutral hydrogen atoms are treated as test particles in a background electron-proton solar wind. Charge exchange between neutrals and protons, radiative recombination, collisional ionization of the neutrals, and the effects of Alfven waves, described by a single frequency or a spectrum, are included in the model. The computations show that an anisotropy in the neutral hydrogen temperature develops in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field within 2-3 R(S) for solar wind conditions, consistent: with observational constraints of the fast wind. The anisotropy decreases as the peak proton temperature increases, with a temperature difference of less than 800,000 K when the protons reach 6 x 10 exp 6 K. We find that the effective temperature, incorporating both random and wave motions of the neutral hydrogen, and the calculated Ly-alpha line profile are independent of wave frequency. The dominant contribution to the profiles comes from the effective temperature at the point of closest approach to the sun along the LOS, although the widths of the profiles are significantly narrowed by non-90 deg scattering along the LOS, broadened by outflow velocity, and narrowed or broadened by steep temperature gradients along the LOS.

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