Proton-Alpha Drift Instability of Electromagnetic Ion-Cyclotron Modes: Quasilinear Development

Physics

Stefaan Poedts¹  Marian Lazar¹  Rodrigo A. López²  Peter H. Yoon³  Shaaban M. Shaaban⁴ 

[1] Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200B, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium;Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 8320000, Chile;Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA;Theoretical Physics Research Group, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt;

关键词: solar wind;    plasmas;    instabilities;    waves;   

DOI  :  10.3390/physics3040075

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The ability of space plasmas to self-regulate through mechanisms involving self-generated fluctuations is a topic of high interest. This paper presents the results of a new advanced quasilinear (QL) approach for the instability of electromagnetic ion-cyclotron modes driven by the relative alpha-proton drift observed in solar wind. For an extended parametric analysis, the present QL approach includes also the effects of intrinsic anisotropic temperatures of these populations. The enhanced fluctuations contribute to an exchange of energy between proton and alpha particles, leading to important variations of the anisotropies, the proton-alpha drift and the temperature contrast. The results presented here can help understand the observational data, in particular, those revealing the local variations associated with the properties of protons and alpha particles as well as the spatial profiles in the expanding solar wind.

【 授权许可】

Unknown