No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets

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No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets. / Borovsky, Joseph E.; Denton, Michael H.
In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 739, No. 2, L61, 01.10.2011, p. -.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Borovsky, JE & Denton, MH 2011, 'No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 739, no. 2, L61, pp. -. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L61

APA

Borovsky, J. E., & Denton, M. H. (2011). No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 739(2), -. Article L61. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L61

Vancouver

Borovsky JE, Denton MH. No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2011 Oct 1;739(2):-. L61. doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L61

Author

Borovsky, Joseph E. ; Denton, Michael H. / No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets. In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2011 ; Vol. 739, No. 2. pp. -.

Bibtex

@article{8e1465be045341cd9088434e73ab2b84,

title = "No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets",

abstract = "It has been conjectured that strong current sheets are the sites of proton heating in the solar wind. For the present study, a strong current sheet is defined by a >45 degrees rotation of the solar-wind magnetic-field direction in 128 s. A total of 194,070 strong current sheets at 1 AU are analyzed in the 1998-2010 ACE solar-wind data set. The proton temperature, proton specific entropy, and electron temperature at each current sheet are compared with the same quantities in the plasmas adjacent to the current sheet. Statistically, the plasma at the current sheets is not hotter or of higher entropy than the plasmas just outside the current sheets. This is taken as evidence that there is no significant localized heating of the solar-wind protons or electrons at strong current sheets. Current sheets are, however, found to be more prevalent in hotter solar-wind plasma. This is because more current sheets are counted in the fast solar wind than in the slow solar wind, and the fast solar wind is hotter than the slow solar wind.",

keywords = "magnetic reconnection, plasmas, solar wind, turbulence, INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC-FIELD, NONLINEAR ALFVEN WAVES, MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE, ULYSSES OBSERVATIONS, PLASMA PARAMETERS, RADIAL EVOLUTION, DISCONTINUITIES, RECONNECTION, SPEED, DISTRIBUTIONS",

author = "Borovsky, {Joseph E.} and Denton, {Michael H.}",

year = "2011",

month = oct,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L61",

language = "English",

volume = "739",

pages = "--",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8205",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd",

number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - No evidence for heating of the solar wind at strong current sheets

AU - Borovsky, Joseph E.

AU - Denton, Michael H.

PY - 2011/10/1

Y1 - 2011/10/1

N2 - It has been conjectured that strong current sheets are the sites of proton heating in the solar wind. For the present study, a strong current sheet is defined by a >45 degrees rotation of the solar-wind magnetic-field direction in 128 s. A total of 194,070 strong current sheets at 1 AU are analyzed in the 1998-2010 ACE solar-wind data set. The proton temperature, proton specific entropy, and electron temperature at each current sheet are compared with the same quantities in the plasmas adjacent to the current sheet. Statistically, the plasma at the current sheets is not hotter or of higher entropy than the plasmas just outside the current sheets. This is taken as evidence that there is no significant localized heating of the solar-wind protons or electrons at strong current sheets. Current sheets are, however, found to be more prevalent in hotter solar-wind plasma. This is because more current sheets are counted in the fast solar wind than in the slow solar wind, and the fast solar wind is hotter than the slow solar wind.

AB - It has been conjectured that strong current sheets are the sites of proton heating in the solar wind. For the present study, a strong current sheet is defined by a >45 degrees rotation of the solar-wind magnetic-field direction in 128 s. A total of 194,070 strong current sheets at 1 AU are analyzed in the 1998-2010 ACE solar-wind data set. The proton temperature, proton specific entropy, and electron temperature at each current sheet are compared with the same quantities in the plasmas adjacent to the current sheet. Statistically, the plasma at the current sheets is not hotter or of higher entropy than the plasmas just outside the current sheets. This is taken as evidence that there is no significant localized heating of the solar-wind protons or electrons at strong current sheets. Current sheets are, however, found to be more prevalent in hotter solar-wind plasma. This is because more current sheets are counted in the fast solar wind than in the slow solar wind, and the fast solar wind is hotter than the slow solar wind.

KW - magnetic reconnection

KW - plasmas

KW - solar wind

KW - turbulence

KW - INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC-FIELD

KW - NONLINEAR ALFVEN WAVES

KW - MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE

KW - ULYSSES OBSERVATIONS

KW - PLASMA PARAMETERS

KW - RADIAL EVOLUTION

KW - DISCONTINUITIES

KW - RECONNECTION

KW - SPEED

KW - DISTRIBUTIONS

U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L61

DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L61

M3 - Journal article

VL - 739

SP - -

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

SN - 2041-8205

IS - 2

M1 - L61

ER -

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