Nordita Astrophysics Seminars

Wave-vector dependence of magnetic-turbulence spectra in the solar wind

by Yasuhito Narita (Institut für Geophysik und extraterrestrische Physik, TU Braunschweig)

Europe/Stockholm
122:026

122:026

Description
Using four-point measurements of the Cluster spacecraft, the energy distribution was determined for magnetic field fluctuations in the solar wind directly in the three-dimensional wave-vector domain in the range |k|≤1.5×10-3rad/km. The energy distribution exhibits anisotropic features characterized by a prominently extended structure perpendicular to the mean field preferring the ecliptic north direction and also by a moderately extended structure parallel to the mean field. From the three-dimensional energy distribution wave vector anisotropy is estimated with respect to directions parallel and perpendicular to the mean magnetic field, and the result suggests the dominance of quasi-two-dimensional turbulence toward smaller spatial scales.

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Paper: Narita et al. (2010, PRL 104, 171101)