ASYMMETRIC ELECTRON DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE SOLAR WIND
- Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784 (Korea, Republic of)
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)
A plausible mechanism responsible for producing asymmetric electron velocity distribution functions in the solar wind is investigated by means of one-dimensional electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. A recent paper suggests that the variation in the ion-to-electron temperature ratio influences the nonlinear wave-particle dynamics such that it results in the formation of asymmetric distributions. The present PIC code simulation largely confirms this finding, but quantitative differences between the weak turbulence formalism and the present PIC simulation are also found, suggesting the limitation of the analytical method. The inter-relationship between the asymmetric electron distribution and the ion-to-electron temperature ratio may be a new useful concept for the observation.
- OSTI ID:
- 22215435
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 775, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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