Observation of inertial energy cascade in interplanetary space plasma
Astrophysics
2008-11-26 v1 Chaotic Dynamics
Plasma Physics
Abstract
We show in this article direct evidence for the presence of an inertial energy cascade, the most characteristic signature of hydromagnetic turbulence (MHD), in the solar wind as observed by the Ulysses spacecraft. After a brief rederivation of the equivalent of Yaglom's law for MHD turbulence, we show that a linear relation is indeed observed for the scaling of mixed third order structure functions involving Els\"asser variables. This experimental result, confirming the prescription stemming from a theorem for MHD turbulence, firmly establishes the turbulent character of low-frequency velocity and magnetic field fluctuations in the solar wind plasma.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0702264,
title = {Observation of inertial energy cascade in interplanetary space plasma},
author = {Luca Sorriso-Valvo and Raffaele Marino and Vincenzo Carbone and Fabio Lepreti and Pierluigi Veltri and Alain Noullez and Roberto Bruno and Bruno Bavassano and Ermanno Pietropaolo},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0702264},
year = {2008}
}