Physics
Scientific paper
Jun 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995sowi.conf...78h&link_type=abstract
New Hampshire Univ., International Solar Wind 8 Conference, p. 78
Physics
Magnetohydrodynamic Waves, Solar Wind, Wave Propagation, Wave Reflection, Delta Function, Square Waves, Random Walk, Helices, Magnetic Fields
Scientific paper
The non-WKB propagation of Alfven waves has been studied either for harmonic waves, or in terms of the evolution of power spectra. Here we present analytical and numerical solutions for the propagation of pulses, the goal being to understand how waves reflect in a smoothly varying medium. We here limit our discussion to a radial magnetic field. If we launch an outward-propagating delta function, it leaves behind an inward-propagating signal which is roughly a square wave whose amplitude is proportional to the area under the initial pulse. The inward-propagating signal also reflects, producing an outward propagating pulse which is roughly triangular in shape and which grows with time. These signals also oscillate if v is less than v(A), but they grow if v is greater than v(A). The result reported by us earlier, that the 'ingoing Elsasser variable' can have outgoing phase, is now understood to be a consequence of interference. The inward-propagating signal depends to lowest order on the integral of the outgoing waves which have preceded it. Thus the ingoing signal can be expected to develop as a random walk. This will affect the radial evolution of cross-helicity in the solar wind.
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