English

Magnetic field spectral evolution in the inner heliosphere

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2023-02-01 v3 Plasma Physics Space Physics

Abstract

Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter data are used to investigate the radial evolution of magnetic turbulence between 0.06 R 10.06 ~ \lesssim R ~\lesssim 1 au. The spectrum is studied as a function of scale, normalized to the ion inertial scale did_{i}. In the vicinity of the Sun, the inertial range is limited to a narrow range of scales and exhibits a power-law exponent of, αB=3/2\alpha_{B} = -3/2, independent of plasma parameters. The inertial range grows with distance, progressively extending to larger spatial scales, while steepening towards a αB=5/3\alpha_{B} =-5/3 scaling. It is observed that spectra for intervals with large magnetic energy excesses and low Alfv\'enic content steepen significantly with distance, in contrast to highly Alfv\'enic intervals that retain their near-Sun scaling. The occurrence of steeper spectra in slower wind streams may be attributed to the observed positive correlation between solar wind speed and Alfv\'enicity.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2209.02451,
  title  = {Magnetic field spectral evolution in the inner heliosphere},
  author = {Nikos Sioulas and Zesen Huang and Chen Shi and Marco Velli and Anna Tenerani and Loukas Vlahos and Trevor A. Bowen and Stuart D. Bale and J. W. Bonnell and P. R. Harvey and Davin Larson and arc Pulupa and Roberto Livi and L. D. Woodham and T. S. Horbury and Michael L. Stevens and T. Dudok de Wit and R. J. MacDowall and David M. Malaspina and K. Goetz and Jia Huang and Justin Kasper and Christopher J. Owen and Milan Maksimović and P. Louarn and A. Fedorov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.02451},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Accepted to APJ letters with minor revisions

R2 v1 2026-06-28T00:47:57.486Z