Identifying Directional Discontinuities in the Solar Wind

Details Identifying Directional Discontinuities in the Solar Wind Identifying Directional Discontinuities in the Solar Wind

Jun 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006spd....37.1104v&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, SPD meeting #37, #11.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.239

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Solar-wind directional discontinuities are abrupt rotations of the heliospheric magnetic field across layers where ion kinetics and ion wave dispersion cannot be neglected. These discontinuities are a common feature at 1 AU. Primarily two discontinuity types are expected in the solar wind: (1) Rotational discontinuities have finite normal magnetic field components, propagate and are related to Alfven waves, and (2) tangential discontinuities have no normal component, are static and correspond to a magnetic flux tube boundary. Determination of the normal magnetic field and classification of type have often been done using magnetic field data alone and the method of minimum variance. However, this method is suspect because surface waves on tangential discontinuities can cause such discontinuities to be misclassified as rotational. We examine techniques to alleviate this difficulty and consider data in addition to magnetic fields. A preliminary investigation of the nature of directional discontinuities is reported using ACE magnetic field data, as well as energetic electron and plasma composition data. This work is performed in association with the Living With A Star focus team on Heliospheric Magnetic Fields.

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