Particle-in-cell simulations of whistler turbulence: A review (Invited)
Abstract
Measurements of broadband magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind at wavelengths shorter than the ion inertial length indicate that the primary constituent of such turbulence is kinetic Alfven waves at frequencies well below the proton cyclotron frequency. Nevertheless, it is possible that much higher frequency whistler fluctuations also contribute to this short-wavelength turbulence. To better understand such potential contributions to solar wind turbulence, we have carried out a series of three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of whistler turbulence in a collisionless, homogeneous, magnetized plasma [Chang et al., 2011, 2013; Gary et al., 2012]. We here review the properties of these simulations, which address turbulence driven by both an initial ensemble of whistler waves and by the whistler anisotropy instability. Our results include the consequences due to both forward and inverse cascades, to variations in the amplitudes of the initial fluctuations and to variations in βe. We describe the magnetic fluctuation spectral properties as well as dissipation on the electrons, which are heated primarily in directions parallel and antiparallel to the background magnetic field. Magnetic fluctuation energy spectra exhibit a break to steeper slopes which scales as the inverse electron inertial length. The simulation results are consistent with the interpretation that the forward cascade is due to nonlinear three-wave interactions. Chang, O., S. P. Gary, and J. Wang (2011), Whistler turbulence forward cascade: Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L22102. Chang, O., S. P. Gary, and J. Wang (2013), Whistler turbulence at variable electron beta: Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 2824. Gary, S. P., O. Chang, and J. Wang (2012), Forward cascade of whistler turbulence: Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, Ap. J., 755, 142.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFMSH41F..06G
- Keywords:
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- 2159 INTERPLANETARY PHYSICS Plasma waves and turbulence;
- 7827 SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS Kinetic and MHD theory;
- 7863 SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS Turbulence;
- 7867 SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS Wave/particle interactions