Related papers: A Majority of Solar Wind Intervals Support Ion-Dri…
Linear theory is a well developed framework for characterizing instabilities in weakly collisional plasmas, such as the solar wind. In the previous instalment of this series, we analyzed ~1.5M proton and alpha particle Velocity Distribution…
Recent observations of the solar wind ions by the SPAN-I instruments on board the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft at solar perihelia (Encounters) 4 and closer find ample evidence of complex anisotropic non-Maxwellian velocity…
A variety of kinetic waves develop in the solar wind. The relationship between these waves and larger-scale structures, such as current sheets and ongoing turbulence remain a topic of investigation. Similarly, the instabilities producing…
The solar wind undergoes significant heating as it propagates away from the Sun; the exact mechanisms responsible for this heating are not yet fully understood. We present for the first time a statistical test for one of the proposed…
The hot beaming (or strahl) electrons responsible for the main electron heat-flux in the solar wind are believed to be self-regulated by the electromagnetic beaming instabilities, also known as the heat-flux instabilities. Here we report…
Protons in the solar corona and heliosphere exhibit anisotropic velocity distributions, violation of magnetic moment conservation, and a general lack of thermal equilibrium with the other particle species. There is no agreement about the…
Using Boltzmann Vlasov kinetic model with the flat-top non-Maxwellian distributed electrons and ions, a velocity power law energetic tail, known as the generalized r, q distribution, a current-less electrostatic instability namely ion…
We present the first three-dimensional hybrid simulations of the evolution of ion-scale current sheets, with an investigation of the role of temperature anisotropy and associated kinetic instabilities on the growth of the tearing…
Ion-driven plasma instability thresholds, derived from linear theory, constrain the distribution of solar observations in parameter space, defining boundaries of stable plasma parameters. Excursions beyond these thresholds result in the…
Ion scale wave events or "wave storms" in the solar wind are characterised by enhancements in magnetic field fluctuations as well as coherent magnetic field polarisation signatures at or around the local ion cyclotron frequencies. In this…
Analysis of ion-kinetic instabilities in solar wind plasmas is crucial for understanding energetics and dynamics throughout the heliosphere, as evident from spacecraft observations of complex ion velocity distribution functions (VDFs) and…
In collision-poor plasmas from space, e.g., the solar wind and planetary magnetospheres, the kinetic anisotropy of the plasma particles is expected to be regulated by the kinetic instabilities. Driven by an excess of ion (proton)…
The composite geometry and spectral anisotropy of the solar wind turbulence are very important topics in the investigations of solar wind. In this work, we use the magnetic field and plasma data from Wind spacecraft measured during 1995…
This letter presents the results of an advanced parametrization of the solar wind electron temperature anisotropy and the instabilities resulting from the interplay of the (bi-)Maxwellian core and (bi-)Kappa halo populations in the slow…
The recently released spacecraft potential measured by the RPW instrument on-board Solar Orbiter has been used to estimate the solar wind electron density in the inner heliosphere. Solar-wind electron density measured during June 2020 has…
We investigated the behavior of the spectral slope of interplanetary magnetic field fluctuations at proton scales for selected high resolution time intervals from WIND and MESSENGER spacecraft at $1$ AU and $0.56$ AU, respectively. The…
Compressive fluctuations are a minor yet significant component of astrophysical plasma turbulence. In the solar wind, long-wavelength compressive slow-mode fluctuations lead to changes in $\beta_{\parallel \mathrm p}\equiv 8\pi n_{\mathrm…
This Letter investigates the spectral characteristics of the interplanetary magnetic field fluctuations at proton scales during several time intervals chosen along the speed profile of a fast stream. The character of the fluctuations within…
We measure the power and spectral index anisotropy of high speed solar wind turbulence from scales larger than the outer scale down to the ion gyroscale, thus covering the entire inertial range. We show that the power and spectral indices…
Protons (ionized hydrogen) in the solar wind frequently exhibit distinct temperatures ($T_{\perp p}$ and $T_{\parallel p}$) perpendicular and parallel to the plasma's background magnetic-field. Numerous prior studies of the interplanetary…