New Ion-Wave Path in the Energy Cascade

Journal Article · Fri Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.106.165002· OSTI ID:21550327

Valentini, Francesco ^[1]; Califano, Francesco; Pegoraro, Francesco ^[2]; Perrone, Denise; Veltri, Pierluigi ^[3]

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1. Dipartimento di Fisica and CNISM, Universita della Calabria, 87036 Rende (CS) (Italy)
2. Dipartimento di Fisica and CNISM, Universita di Pisa, 56127 Pisa (Italy)
3. Dipartimento di Fisica and CNISM, Universita della Calabria, 87036 Rende (Italy)

We present the results of kinetic numerical simulations that demonstrate the existence of a novel branch of electrostatic nonlinear waves driven by particle trapping processes. These waves have an acoustic-type dispersion with phase speed comparable to the ion thermal speed and would thus be heavily Landau damped in the linear regime. At variance with the ion-acoustic waves, this novel electrostatic branch can exist at a small but finite amplitude even for low values of the electron to ion temperature ratio. Our results provide a new interpretation of observations in space plasmas, where a significant level of electrostatic activity is observed in the high frequency region of the solar-wind turbulent spectra.

• OSTI ID: 21550327
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 16; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.165002; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AMPLITUDES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DISPERSIONS
ELECTRONS
ION ACOUSTIC WAVES
ION TEMPERATURE
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PLASMA
SOLAR WIND
SPECTRA
TRAPPING
VELOCITY
WASTE HEAT UTILIZATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
ION WAVES
LEPTONS
PLASMA WAVES
SIMULATION
SOLAR ACTIVITY
STELLAR ACTIVITY
STELLAR WINDS
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION