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Detailed Reference Information |
le Roux, J.A., Matthaeus, W.H. and Zank, G.P. (2001). Pickup ion acceleration by turbulent electric fields in the slow solar wind. Geophysical Research Letters 28: doi: 10.1029/2001GL013400. issn: 0094-8276. |
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Recent spacecraft observations reveal that energetic tails in ion spectra are present continually in the slow low-latitude solar wind, even in the absence of nearby shocks. To explain this phenomenon we take into account growing evidence that MHD turbulence in the solar wind has a strong two-dimensional (2D) component. 2D MHD turbulence simulations exhibit large-scale field-aligned electric field fluctuations which are also observable in the solar wind. We explore pickup ion propagation and acceleration between the Sun and Earth with a newly developed kinetic numerical model which includes a random distribution of large-scale field-aligned electric field fluctuations consistent with observations in the low-latitude solar wind. The model is found to qualitatively reproduce the accelerated interstellar pickup He+ spectra observed at Earth. Like the observations, the simulated accelerated tail is approximately a power law f(v)∝v-4.5 until it reaches particle speeds about ten times the solar wind speed where a rollover occurs. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Interplanetary Physics, MHD waves and turbulence, Space Plasma Physics, Magnetic reconnection |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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