Acceleration and heating of heavy ions in high speed solar wind streams
- Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago (Chile)
We propose circularly polarized Alfven waves generated in coronal holes as a possible mechanism to heat and accelerate heavy ions in the fast solar wind. As the solar wind expands, the Alfven waves encounter first the gyrofrequency of the species with the largest M{sub l}=m{sub l}/z{sub l}m{sub p} (m{sub l} is the ion mass, z{sub l} the degree of ionization, and m{sub p} the proton mass). As a result of resonance absorption, the ions are heated and accelerated by quasilinear resonant interaction. As the ions are accelerated, they reach a velocity at which the dispersion relation changes in such a way, that the Alfven-like branch of the dispersion relation goes over the gyrofrequency of the species with the second largest M{sub l} value. As the solar wind continues to expand, more and more of such channels open up, until all heavy ions are heated and accelerated.
- OSTI ID:
- 21163494
- 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: 10.1063/1.51404; (c) 1996 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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