Kinetic electrons in high‐speed solar wind streams: Formation of high‐energy tails

Abstract

We study the evolution of the electron velocity distribution function in high‐speed solar wind streams from the collision‐dominated corona and into the collisionless interplanetary space. The model we employ solves the kinetic transport equation with the Fokker‐Planck collision operator to describe Coulomb collisions between electrons. We use a test particle approach, where test electrons are injected into a prescribed solar wind background. The density, temperature, and electric field associated with the background are computed from fluid models. The test electrons are in thermal equilibrium with the background at the base of the corona, and we study the evolution of the velocity distribution of the test electrons as a function of altitude. We find that velocity filtration, due to the energy dependence of the Coulomb cross section, is a small effect and is not capable of producing significant beams in the distribution or a temperature moment that increases with altitude. The distribution function is mainly determined by the electric field and the expanding geometry and consists of a population with an almost isotropic core which is bound in the electrostatic potential and a beam‐like high‐energy tail which escapes. The trapped electrons contribute significantly to the even moments of the distribution function but almost nothing to the odd moments; the drift speed and energy flux moments are carried solely by the tail. In order to describe the high‐speed solar wind observed near 0.3 AU by the Helios spacecraft, we use a multifluid model where ions are heated preferentially. The resulting test electron distribution at 0.3 AU, in this background, is in very good agreement with the velocity distributions observed by the Helios spacecraft.