Constraining Ion-Scale Heating and Spectral Energy Transfer in Observations of Plasma Turbulence

Trevor A. Bowen, Alfred Mallet, Stuart D. Bale, J. W. Bonnell, Anthony W. Case, Benjamin D. G. Chandran, Alexandros Chasapis, Christopher H. K. Chen, Die Duan, Thierry Dudok de Wit, Keith Goetz, Jasper S. Halekas, Peter R. Harvey, J. C. Kasper, Kelly E. Korreck, Davin Larson, Roberto Livi, Robert J. MacDowall, David M. Malaspina, Michael D. McManus, Marc Pulupa, Michael Stevens, and Phyllis Whittlesey
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 025102 – Published 6 July 2020

Abstract

We perform a statistical study of the turbulent power spectrum at inertial and kinetic scales observed during the first perihelion encounter of the Parker Solar Probe. We find that often there is an extremely steep scaling range of the power spectrum just above the ion-kinetic scales, similar to prior observations at 1 A.U., with a power-law index of around 4. Based on our measurements, we demonstrate that either a significant (>50%) fraction of the total turbulent energy flux is dissipated in this range of scales, or the characteristic nonlinear interaction time of the turbulence decreases dramatically from the expectation based solely on the dispersive nature of nonlinearly interacting kinetic Alfvén waves.

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  • Received 14 January 2020
  • Revised 11 May 2020
  • Accepted 22 May 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.025102

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Plasma PhysicsGravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Trevor A. Bowen1,*, Alfred Mallet1, Stuart D. Bale1,2,3,4, J. W. Bonnell1, Anthony W. Case5, Benjamin D. G. Chandran6,7, Alexandros Chasapis8, Christopher H. K. Chen4, Die Duan1,9, Thierry Dudok de Wit10, Keith Goetz11, Jasper S. Halekas12, Peter R. Harvey1, J. C. Kasper13,5, Kelly E. Korreck5, Davin Larson1, Roberto Livi1, Robert J. MacDowall14, David M. Malaspina15,8, Michael D. McManus1,2, Marc Pulupa1, Michael Stevens5, and Phyllis Whittlesey1

  • 1Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7450, USA
  • 2Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7300, USA
  • 3The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 4School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
  • 5Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  • 6Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
  • 7Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
  • 8Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80303, USA
  • 9School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • 10LPC2E, CNRS and University of Orléans, 3 Avenue de la Recherche Scientifique, 45071 Orléans, France
  • 11School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
  • 12Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
  • 13Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
  • 14Solar System Exploration Division, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  • 15Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

  • *tbowen@berkeley.edu

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Vol. 125, Iss. 2 — 10 July 2020

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