Proton Temperature Research Articles

Intermittent Dissipation and Heating in 3D Kinetic Plasma Turbulence.

High resolution, fully kinetic, three dimensional (3D) simulation of collisionless plasma turbulence shows the development of turbulence characterized by sheetlike current density structures spanning a range of scales. The nonlinear evolution is initialized with a long wavelength isotropic spectrum of fluctuations having polarizations transverse to an imposed mean magnetic field. We present evidence that these current sheet structures are sites for heating and dissipation, and that stronger currents signify higher dissipation rates. The analyses focus on quantities such as J·E, electron, and proton temperatures, and conditional averages of these quantities based on local electric current density. Evidently, kinetic scale plasma, like magnetohydrodynamics, becomes intermittent due to current sheet formation, leading to the expectation that heating and dissipation in astrophysical and space plasmas may be highly nonuniform. Comparison with previous results from 2D kinetic simulations, as well as high frequency solar wind observational data, are discussed.

Magnetic Alfvén‐cyclotron fluctuations of anisotropic nonthermal plasmas

AbstractRemote and in situ observations in the solar wind show that ion and electron velocity distributions persistently present deviations from thermal equilibrium. Ion anisotropies seem to be constrained by instability thresholds which are in agreement with linear kinetic theory. For plasma states below these instability thresholds, the quasi‐stable solar wind plasma sustains a small but detectable level of magnetic fluctuation power. These fluctuations may be related to spontaneous electromagnetic fluctuations arising from the discreteness and thermal motion of charged particles. Here we study magnetic Alfvén‐cyclotron fluctuations propagating along a background magnetic field in a plasma composed of thermal and suprathermal protons and electrons via the fluctuation‐dissipation theorem. The total fluctuating magnetic power is estimated in a proton temperature anisotropy‐beta diagram for three different families of proton distribution functions, which can be compared to a number of recent measurements in the solar wind.

Predicted impacts of proton temperature anisotropy on solar wind turbulence

Particle velocity distributions measured in the weakly collisional solar wind are frequently found to be non-Maxwellian, but how these non-Maxwellian distributions impact the physics of plasma turbulence in the solar wind remains unanswered. Using numerical solutions of the linear dispersion relation for a collisionless plasma with a bi-Maxwellian proton velocity distribution, we present a unified framework for the four proton temperature anisotropy instabilities, identifying the associated stable eigenmodes, highlighting the unstable region of wavevector space and presenting the properties of the growing eigenfunctions. Based on physical intuition gained from this framework, we address how the proton temperature anisotropy impacts the nonlinear dynamics of the Alfvénic fluctuations underlying the dominant cascade of energy from large to small scales and how the fluctuations driven by proton temperature anisotropy instabilities interact nonlinearly with each other and with the fluctuations of the large-scale cascade. We find that the nonlinear dynamics of the large-scale cascade is insensitive to the proton temperature anisotropy and that the instability-driven fluctuations are unlikely to cause significant nonlinear evolution of either the instability-driven fluctuations or the turbulent fluctuations of the large-scale cascade.

Modelling of forest fires time evolution in the USA on the basis of long term variations and dynamics of the temperature of the solar wind protons

The work examines the potential causative link between the flow of protons, i.e. temperature of the particles that are coming from the sun and forest fires in the USA. For determination of the degree of randomness for time series of input (temperature of protons) and output parameters (number of forest fires), the R/S analysis is conducted. The analysis of fractal dimension provides us an opportunity to compare self-similar processes in the influx of protons and the time series of forest fires flashes. Therefore we developed and conducted the sensitivity analysis of model based on hybrid neural networks ANFIS. As the calculations showed, only 16% of the real forest flashes cannot be predicted by the model.

Coronal mass ejections: a driver of severe space weather

Coronal mass ejections: a driver of severe space weather

A new four‐plasma categorization scheme for the solar wind

AbstractA three‐parameter algebraic scheme is developed to categorize the solar wind at 1 AU into four plasma types: coronal‐hole‐origin plasma, streamer‐belt‐origin plasma, sector‐reversal‐region plasma, and ejecta. The three parameters are the proton‐specific entropy Sp = Tp/np2/3, the proton Alfvén speed vA, and the proton temperature Tp compared with a velocity‐dependent expected temperature. Four measurements are needed to apply the scheme: the proton number density np, the proton temperature Tp, the magnetic field strength B, and the solar wind speed vsw. The scheme is tested and is found to be more accurate than existing categorization schemes. The categorization scheme is applied to the 1963–2013 OMNI2 data set spanning four solar cycles and to the 1998–2008 ACE data set. The statistical properties of the four types of plasma are examined. The sector‐reversal‐region plasma is found to have statistically low alpha‐to‐proton density ratios and high Alfvén Mach numbers. The statistical relations between the proton and alpha‐particle‐specific entropies and oxygen and carbon charge‐state‐density ratios Sp, Sα, O7+/O6+, and C6+/C5+ from ACE are examined for the four types of plasma: the patterns observed imply a connection between sector‐reversal‐region plasma and ejecta and a connection between streamer‐belt‐origin plasma and coronal‐hole‐origin plasma. Plasma occurrence rates are examined and solar cycle patterns are found for ejecta, for coronal‐hole‐origin plasma, and for sector‐reversal‐region plasma.

Proton temperature-anisotropy-driven instabilities in weakly collisional plasmas: Hybrid simulations

Kinetic instabilities in weakly collisional, high beta plasmas are investigated using two-dimensional hybrid expanding box simulations with Coulomb collisions modeled through the Langevin equation (corresponding to the Fokker-Planck one). The expansion drives a parallel or perpendicular temperature anisotropy (depending on the orientation of the ambient magnetic field). For the chosen parameters the Coulomb collisions are important with respect to the driver but are not strong enough to keep the system stable with respect to instabilities driven by the proton temperature anisotropy. In the case of the parallel temperature anisotropy the dominant oblique fire hose instability efficiently reduces the anisotropy in a quasilinear manner. In the case of the perpendicular temperature anisotropy the dominant mirror instability generates coherent compressive structures which scatter protons and reduce the temperature anisotropy. For both the cases the instabilities generate temporarily enough wave energy so that the corresponding (anomalous) transport coefficients dominate over the collisional ones and their properties are similar to those in collisionless plasmas.

The effect of the Earth׳s optical shadow on thermal plasma measurements in the plasmasphere

The data processing technique was developed for thermal plasma measurements by wide-angle plasma analyzers, which was successfully used for the Interball mission instruments. This technique considers the effect of spacecraft potential on plasma measurements. When the spacecraft enters the optical shadow of the Earth, the evaluated spacecraft potential suddenly drops, but no abrupt changes of plasma density or temperature are observed. Often observed decrease in temperature of protons in the Earth's shadow is actually associated with shading of ionospheric feet of magnetic field line passing through the spacecraft. This suggests that ionospheric photoelectrons are an important heat source for the plasmasphere. Besides, the Interball 1 data suggest that photoelectrons coming from the nearest ionosphere are more effective in plasmaspheric ion heating than photoelectrons from the conjugate hemisphere.

ENSEMBLE SIMULATIONS OF PROTON HEATING IN THE SOLAR WIND VIA TURBULENCE AND ION CYCLOTRON RESONANCE

Protons in the solar corona and heliosphere exhibit anisotropic velocity distributions, violation of magnetic moment conservation, and a general lack of thermal equilibrium with the other particle species. There is no agreement about the identity of the physical processes that energize non-Maxwellian protons in the solar wind, but a traditional favorite has been the dissipation of ion cyclotron resonant Alfven waves. This paper presents kinetic models of how ion cyclotron waves heat protons on their journey from the corona to interplanetary space. It also derives a wide range of new solutions for the relevant dispersion relations, marginal stability boundaries, and nonresonant velocity-space diffusion rates. A phenomenological model containing both cyclotron damping and turbulent cascade is constructed to explain the suppression of proton heating at low alpha-proton differential flow speeds. These effects are implemented in a large-scale model of proton thermal evolution from the corona to 1 AU. A Monte Carlo ensemble of realistic wind speeds, densities, magnetic field strengths, and heating rates produces a filled region of parameter space (in a plane described by the parallel plasma beta and the proton temperature anisotropy ratio) similar to what is measured. The high-beta edges of this filled region are governed by plasma instabilities and strong heating rates. The low-beta edges correspond to weaker proton heating and a range of relative contributions from cyclotron resonance. On balance, the models are consistent with other studies that find only a small fraction of the turbulent power spectrum needs to consist of ion cyclotron waves.

MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLIFICATION IN NONLINEAR DIFFUSIVE SHOCK ACCELERATION INCLUDING RESONANT AND NON-RESONANT COSMIC-RAY DRIVEN INSTABILITIES

We present a nonlinear Monte Carlo model of efficient diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) where the magnetic turbulence responsible for particle diffusion is calculated self-consistently from the resonant cosmic-ray (CR) streaming instability, together with non-resonant short- and long-wavelength CR-current-driven instabilities. We include the backpressure from CRs interacting with the strongly amplified magnetic turbulence which decelerates and heats the super-alfvenic flow in the extended shock precursor. Uniquely, in our plane-parallel, steady-state, multi-scale model, the full range of particles, from thermal (~eV) injected at the viscous subshock, to the escape of the highest energy CRs (~PeV) from the shock precursor, are calculated consistently with the shock structure, precursor heating, magnetic field amplification (MFA), and scattering center drift relative to the background plasma. In addition, we show how the cascade of turbulence to shorter wavelengths influences the total shock compression, the downstream proton temperature, the magnetic fluctuation spectra, and accelerated particle spectra. A parameter survey is included where we vary shock parameters, the mode of magnetic turbulence generation, and turbulence cascading. From our survey results, we obtain scaling relations for the maximum particle momentum and amplified magnetic field as functions of shock speed, ambient density, and shock size.

Two‐dimensional hybrid models of H+‐He++ expanding solar wind plasma heating

AbstractPreferential heating and acceleration of the solar wind He++ ions compared to protons in fast solar wind streams have been known for decades, thanks to in situ spacecraft measurements at 0.29–5 AU. Turbulent magnetic field fluctuations with approximate power law spectra have been observed as well. However, the exact causes of these processes are still not known due to the lack of detailed information on the magnetic field fluctuations and ion velocity distributions in the acceleration region of the solar wind. Here the collisionless heating processes in expanding solar wind plasma are investigated using 2‐D hybrid modeling with parameters appropriate to the heliocentric distance of 10 RS. In this study the ion dynamics is described kinetically, while electrons are treated as a background massless fluid in an expanding solar wind model. The source of free energy for the heating is introduced through an initial nonequilibrium state of the plasma with large He++ ion temperature anisotropy or with super‐Alfvénic relative ion drift. We also employ an externally imposed spectrum of magnetic fluctuations in the frequency range below the proton gyroresonant frequency to heat the He++ ions. We investigate the effects of solar wind radial expansion by modeling several values of the expansion rate in a parametric study. We find that the preferential ion heating is attained in both nonexpanding and expanding solar wind models. Thus, the expansion has little effect on the preferential He++ ion heating by the processes considered here. Moreover, the expansion leads to faster evolution of the magnetosonic drift instability, reducing the drift velocity to lower values sooner, and the corresponding generation of the magnetic fluctuations that heat the ions, compared to the nonexpanding case. This is due to the reduction of the perpendicular particle velocities in the expanding (inflated) frame. For cases with little proton perpendicular heating, the solar wind expansion leads to the reduction of the proton temperature anisotropy to values less than one in the low‐βp∥ solar wind acceleration region consistent with some observed values. However, this effect must be offset by perpendicular proton heating—likely by the same process that heats the He++ ions to be consistent with the full range of observed proton perpendicular temperature values.

THE NONLINEAR AND NONLOCAL LINK BETWEEN MACROSCOPIC ALFVÉNIC AND MICROSCOPIC ELECTROSTATIC SCALES IN THE SOLAR WIND

The local heating of the solar-wind gas during its expansion represents one of the most intriguing problems in space plasma physics and is at present the subject of a relevant scientific effort. The possible mechanisms that could account for local heat production in the interplanetary medium are most likely related to the turbulent character of the solar-wind plasma. Nowadays, many observational and numerical analyses are devoted to the identification of fluctuation channels along which energy is carried from large to short wavelengths during the development of the turbulent cascade; these fluctuation channels establish the link between macroscopic and microscopic scales. In this Letter, by means of a quantitative comparison between in situ measurements in the solar wind from the STEREO spacecraft and numerical results from kinetic simulations, we identify an electrostatic channel of fluctuations that develops along the turbulent cascade in a direction parallel to the ambient magnetic field. This channel appears to be efficient in transferring the energy from large Alfvenic to short electrostatic acoustic-like scales up to a range of wavelengths where it can finally be turned into heat, even when the electron to proton temperature ratio is of the order of unity.

Identification of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections at Ulysses Using Multiple Solar Wind Signatures

Previous studies have discussed the identification of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) near the Earth based on various solar wind signatures. In particular, methods have been developed of identifying regions of anomalously low solar wind proton temperatures (T p) and plasma compositional anomalies relative to the composition of the ambient solar wind that are frequently indicative of ICMEs. In this study, similar methods are applied to observations from the Ulysses spacecraft that was launched in 1990 and placed in a heliocentric orbit over the poles of the Sun. Some 279 probable ICMEs are identified during the spacecraft mission, which ended in 2009. The identifications complement those found independently in other studies of the Ulysses data, but a number of additional events are identified. The properties of the ICMEs detected at Ulysses and those observed near the Earth and in the inner heliosphere are compared.

He2+ dynamics and ion cyclotron waves in the downstream of quasi‐perpendicular shocks: 2‐D hybrid simulations

AbstractThe free energy provided by the ion temperature anisotropy is considered to be the source of ion cyclotron waves in the downstream of a quasi‐perpendicular shock. Besides the proton cyclotron waves excited by the proton temperature anisotropy, He2 + is decelerated differentially from the protons by the shock due to its different charge‐to‐mass ratio and forms a bunched ring‐like distribution in the immediate downstream of the quasi‐perpendicular shock. However, how the helium cyclotron waves associated with the anisotropic distribution of He2 + are excited is still in debate. In this paper, with two‐dimensional (2‐D) hybrid simulations, we investigate He2 + dynamics and its role in the ion cyclotron waves downstream of quasi‐perpendicular shocks (the proton plasma beta in the upstream is 0.4). A bunched ring‐like distribution of He2 + is formed in the immediate downstream of the quasi‐perpendicular shocks; then it evolves into a shell‐like distribution. At last, a bi‐Maxwellian distribution of He2 + is generated in the far downstream. In the medium and low Mach number shocks, besides the proton cyclotron waves excited near the shock front, there is another enhancement of the magnetic fluctuations in the downstream. The results show that the helium cyclotron waves can be driven directly by the bunched ring‐like distribution of He2 + in a low or medium Mach number quasi‐perpendicular shock. The relevance of our simulation results to the satellite observations is also discussed in this paper.

Proton temperature change with heliocentric distance from 0.3 to 1 AU according to relative temperatures

AbstractHelios spacecraft data excluding shocks, ejecta, and low‐cadence plasma intervals are averaged into hour‐long intervals and binned by heliocentric distance. In each distance bin, relative classes of fluctuation‐normalized cross helicity and total energy are made with a further refinement of each of these classes according to the relative proton radial component of temperature. The relative classes of temperature itself are also examined. All temperatures in each class are fitted by a power law as a function of heliocentric distance to determine the power law index. The difference between this index and the adiabatic index for isotropic plasma can be the first‐order indicator of heat addition to the plasma. Relative total energy has temperature indices and behaviors that can be consistent with heat addition from a turbulent energy cascade. Relative cross helicity also shows indices that can support heat addition, but the results are inconclusive on heat addition, especially at high cross helicity. A detailed knowledge of the thermal anisotropy, at least, is required in the case of high cross helicity.

Statistical Study of ICMEs and Their Sheaths During Solar Cycle 23 (1996 – 2008)

We have created a new catalog of 325 interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) using their in-situ plasma signatures from 1996 to 2008; this time period includes Solar Cycle 23. The data set came from the OMNI near-Earth database. The one-minute resolution data that we used include magnetic-field strength, solar-wind speed, proton density, proton temperature, and plasma β. We compared this new catalog with other published catalogs. For every event, we indicated the presence of an ICME-driven shock. We identified the boundaries of ICMEs and their sheaths, and examined the statistical properties of characteristic parameters. We derived the duration and radial width of ICMEs and sheaths in the region near Earth. The statistical analysis of all events shows that, on average, sheaths travel faster than ICMEs, which indicates the expansion of CMEs in the interplanetary medium. They have higher mean magnetic-field strength values than ICMEs, and they are denser. They have higher mean proton temperature and plasma β than ICMEs, but they are smaller than ICMEs and last for a shorter time. The events were divided into different categories according to whether they included a shock and according to the phase of Solar Cycle 23 in which they are observed, i.e. ascending, maximum, or descending phase. We compared the different categories. We present a catalog of events available to the scientific community that studies ICMEs, and show the distribution and statistical properties of various parameters during these phenomena that govern the solar wind, the interplanetary medium, and space weather.

PLASMA PHYSICAL PARAMETERS ALONG CORONAL-MASS-EJECTION-DRIVEN SHOCKS. I. ULTRAVIOLET AND WHITE-LIGHT OBSERVATIONS

In this work UV and white light (WL) coronagraphic data are combined to derive the full set of plasma physical parameters along the front of a shock driven by a Coronal Mass Ejection. Pre-shock plasma density, shock compression ratio, speed and inclination angle are estimated from WL data, while pre-shock plasma temperature and outflow velocity are derived from UV data. The Rankine-Hugoniot (RH) equations for the general case of an oblique shock are then applied at three points along the front located between $2.2-2.6$ R$_\odot$ at the shock nose and at the two flanks. Stronger field deflection (by $\sim 46^\circ$), plasma compression (factor $\sim 2.7$) and heating (factor $\sim 12$) occur at the nose, while heating at the flanks is more moderate (factor $1.5-3.0$). Starting from a pre-shock corona where protons and electrons have about the same temperature ($T_p \sim T_e \sim 1.5 \cdot 10^6$ K), temperature increases derived with RH equations could better represent the protons heating (by dissipation across the shock), while the temperature increase implied by adiabatic compression (factor $\sim 2$ at the nose, $\sim 1.2-1.5$ at the flanks) could be more representative of electrons heating: the transit of the shock causes a decoupling between electron and proton temperatures. Derived magnetic field vector rotations imply a draping of field lines around the expanding flux rope. The shock turns out to be super-critical (sub-critical) at the nose (at the flanks), where derived post-shock plasma parameters can be very well approximated with those derived by assuming a parallel (perpendicular) shock.

SOLAR WIND PROTONS AT 1 AU: TRENDS AND BOUNDS, CONSTRAINTS AND CORRELATIONS

The proton temperature anisotropy in the solar wind exhibits apparent bounds which are compatible with the theoretical constraints imposed by temperature-anisotropy driven kinetic instabilities. Recent statistical analyses based on conditional averaging indicate that near these theoretical constraints the solar wind protons have typically enhanced temperatures and a weaker collisionality. Here we carefully analyze the solar wind data and show that these results are a consequence of superposition of multiple correlations in the solar wind, namely, they mostly result from the correlation between the proton temperature and the solar wind velocity and from the superimposed anti-correlation between the proton temperature anisotropy and the proton parallel beta in the fast solar wind. Colder and more collisional data are distributed around temperature isotropy whereas hotter and less collisional data have a wider range of the temperature anisotropy anti-correlated with the proton parallel beta with signatures of constraints owing to the temperature-anisotropy driven instabilities. However, most of the hot and weakly collisional data, including the hottest and least collisional ones, lies far from the marginal stability regions. Consequently, we conclude that there is no clear relation between the enhanced temperatures and instability constraints and that the conditional averaging used for these analyses must be used carefully and need to be well tested.

Coulomb corrections to the extraction of the density and temperature in non-relativistic heavy ion collisions

We address the role of Coulomb interaction in the determination of densities and temperatures of hot sources produced in heavy ion collisions. Such quantities can be obtained from the quadrupole momentum and multiplicity fluctuations of the emitted light particles. In this paper we modify the method by taking explicitly into account Coulomb corrections. The classical and quantum limits for fermions are discussed. In the classical case we find that the temperatures determined from 3H and 3He, after the Coulomb correction, are very similar to those obtained from neutrons within the constrained molecular dynamics approach. In the quantum case, the proton temperature becomes very similar to neutron’s, while densities are not sensitive to the Coulomb corrections.

No evidence for the localized heating of solar wind protons at intense velocity shear zones

AbstractUsing measurements from the Wind spacecraft at 1 AU, the heating of protons in the solar wind at locations of intense velocity shear is examined. The 4321 sites of intense shear in fast coronal hole origin plasma are analyzed. The proton temperature, the proton specific entropy, and the proton number density at the locations of the shears are compared with the same quantities in the plasmas adjacent to the shears. A very slight but statistically significant enhancement of the proton temperature is seen at the sites of the shears, but it is accompanied by a larger enhancement of the proton number density at the sites of the shears. Consequently, there is no enhancement of the proton specific entropy at the shear sites, indicating no production of entropy; hence, no evidence for plasma heating is found at the sites of the velocity shears. Since the shearing velocities have appreciable Mach numbers, the authors suggest that there can be a slight adiabatic compression of the plasma at the shear zones.