Contribution of the non linear Landau damping of Alfvén waves to the heating of the solar wind protons.
Abstract
Summary. Using the work of Livshits and Tsytovich (1970) we give an estimate of the proton heating by non linear Landau damping of Mfve'n waves in a plasma where the Alfve'n velocity is much larger than the sound velocity. This non linear heating operates only when backward and forward (with respect to the direction of the general magnetic field B0) Alfve'n waves are both intense. This process can account for the solar wind data at 1 AU, where the hottest protons are observed precisely in the regions where backward waves coexist with forward waves (Belcher and Davis, 1971). This process also accounts for the observed lifetime of backward waves, and for the observed relation between the proton temperature and the index cc of the power law of the Alfve'n wave spectrum. Key words: solar wind Alfve'n waves - proton heating
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- April 1976
- Bibcode:
- 1976A&A....48...11L
- Keywords:
-
- Landau Damping;
- Magnetohydrodynamic Waves;
- Plasma Heating;
- Proton Energy;
- Solar Protons;
- Solar Wind;
- Collision Rates;
- Collisionless Plasmas;
- Solar Physics