Some remarks on waves in the solar wind
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (United States)
Waves are significant to the solar wind in two ways--as modifiers of the particle distribution functions, and as diagnostics. In addition, the solar wind serves as an important laboratory for the study of plasma wave processes, as it is possible to make detailed measurements of phenomena which are too small to be easily measured by laboratory sized sensors. The waves, both electromagnetic and electrostatic, which are part of the solar type III burst phenomenon, have been extensively studied as examples of nonlinear plasma phenomena, and also used as remote sensors to trace the solar magnetic field. The observations made by Ulysses show that the field can be traced in this way out to perhaps a little more than an A.U., but then the electromagnetic part of the type III burst fades out. Nevertheless, sometimes Langmuir waves appear at Ulysses at an appropriate extrapolated time. This seems to support the picture in which the electromagnetic waves at the fundamental plasma frequency are trapped in density fluctuations. Recently it has been found that Langmuir waves are associated with magnetic holes. This may help to elucidate the nature of magnetic holes. Nonlinear processes are important in the transformation of wave energy to particle energy. Some recent examples from Wind data are shown.
- OSTI ID:
- 21163475
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 382, Issue 1; Conference: 8. international solar wind conference: Solar wind eight, Dana Point, CA (United States), 25-30 Jun 1995; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.51387; (c) 1996 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
PLASMA EMISSION BY NONLINEAR ELECTROMAGNETIC PROCESSES
Effect of wave localization on plasma instabilities