Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jul 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003apj...592..564i&link_type=abstract
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 592, Issue 1, pp. 564-573.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
45
Sun: Solar Wind, Turbulence
Scientific paper
The solar wind heating observed in the outer heliosphere can be attributed to the turbulent dissipation of wave energy generated by the isotropization of interstellar pickup protons. We calculate the fluctuation energy provided by the pickup protons, assuming that the ambient fluctuations are dominated by turbulent processes. This assumption is in contrast to previous estimates of this energy, which obtained a bispherical result in the absence of turbulent interactions. We find that when turbulent processes dominate the wave generation, a more isotropic distribution of pickup protons is produced and less energy is injected into the solar wind fluctuations. When this form of the pickup proton energy source is used in a phenomenological model of turbulent evolution in the solar wind, we find good agreement with the solar wind temperature measurements by the Voyager 2 spacecraft available at present out to almost 70 AU. The efficient spectral smoothing by the turbulent transport may also explain the absence of observable pickup proton-generated waves in the outer heliosphere.
Isenberg Philip A.
Matthaeus William H.
Smith Charles W.
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