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Weakly Turbulent MHD Waves in Compressible Low-Beta Plasmas

Astrophysics 2009-11-13 v1

Abstract

In this Letter, weak turbulence theory is used to investigate interactions among Alfven waves and fast and slow magnetosonic waves in collisionless low-beta plasmas. The wave kinetic equations are derived from the equations of magnetohydrodynamics, and extra terms are then added to model collisionless damping. These equations are used to provide a quantitative description of a variety of nonlinear processes, including "parallel" and "perpendicular" energy cascade, energy transfer between wave types, "phase mixing," and the generation of back-scattered Alfven waves.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0810.5360,
  title  = {Weakly Turbulent MHD Waves in Compressible Low-Beta Plasmas},
  author = {Benjamin D. G. Chandran},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0810.5360},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

Accepted, Physical Review Letters