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We explore a mechanism, entirely new to the fast solar wind, of electron heating by lower hybrid waves to explain the shift to higher charge states observed in various elements in the fast wind at 1 A.U. relative to the original coronal…
We investigate the scattering of strahl electrons by microinstabilities as a mechanism for creating the electron halo in the solar wind. We develop a mathematical framework for the description of electron-driven microinstabilities and…
High time-resolution solar wind magnetic field data is employed to study statistics describing intermittency near the first perihelion (~35.6 Rs) of the Parker Solar Probe mission. A merged dataset employing two instruments on the FIELDS…
In this work, we analyze the kinetic stability of a solar wind electron distribution composed of core and strahl subpopulations. The core is modeled by a drifting Maxwellian distribution, while the strahl is modeled by an analytic function…
In this work, we investigate how the complex structure found in solar wind proton velocity distribution functions (VDFs), rather than the commonly assumed two-component bi-Maxwellian structure, affects the onset and evolution of…
We analyze the micro-kinetic stability of the electron strahl in the solar wind depending on heliocentric distance. The oblique fast-magnetosonic/whistler (FM/W) instability has emerged in the literature as a key candidate mechanism for the…
The anisotropic nature of solar wind magnetic turbulence fluctuations is investigated scale-by-scale using high cadence in-situ magnetic field measurements from the Cluster and ACE spacecraft missions. The data span five decades in scales…
AIM: Large amplitude narrowband obliquely propagating whistler-mode waves at frequencies of ~0.2 fce (electron cyclotron frequency) are commonly observed at 1 AU, and are most consistent with the whistler heat flux fan instability. We want…
In situ observations of the solar wind show a limited level of particle temperature anisotropy with respect to the interplanetary magnetic field direction. Kinetic electromagnetic instabilities are efficient to prevent the excessive growth…
We develop a phenomenological model of strong imbalanced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence that accounts for intermittency and the reflection of Alfven waves by spatial variations in the Alfven speed. Our model predicts the slopes of the…
Transverse electromagnetic and electrostatic plasma wave modes propagating along a background magnetic field $\vec{B}_0$ are independent according to linear kinetic theory. However, resonant interactions and energy exchange between waves…
The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft observed a large coronal mass ejection (CME) on 5 September 2022, shortly before closest approach during the 13th PSP solar encounter. For several days following the CME, PSP detected a storm of Type…
The first observed connection between kinetic instabilities driven by proton temperature anisotropy and estimated energy cascade rates in the turbulent solar wind is reported using measurements from the Wind spacecraft at 1 AU. We find…
In the interplanetary space solar wind plasma, whistler waves are observed in a wide range of heliocentric distance (from ~20 solar radii (RS) to Jupiter's orbit). They are known to interact with solar wind suprathermal electrons (strahl…
The selfgenerated wave fluctuations are particularly interesting in the solar wind and magnetospheric plasmas, where Coulomb collisions are rare and cannot explain the observed states of quasi-equilibrium. Linear theory predicts that the…
The solar wind, a continuous flow of plasma from the sun, not only shapes the near Earth space environment but also serves as a natural laboratory to study plasma turbulence in conditions that are not achievable in the lab. Starting with…
Switchbacks (SBs) are localized magnetic field deflections in the solar wind, marked by abrupt changes in the magnetic field direction relative to the ambient solar wind. Observations onboard Parker Solar Probe (PSP) at heliocentric…
We investigate the steepening of the magnetic fluctuation power law spectra observed in the inner solar wind for frequencies higher than 0.5 Hz. This high frequency part of the spectrum may be attributed to dispersive nonlinear processes.…
Solar wind magnetic fluctuations exhibit anisotropy due to the presence of a mean magnetic field in the form of the Parker spiral. Close to the Sun, direct measurements were not available until the recently launched Parker Solar Probe (PSP)…
We present waveform observations of electromagnetic lower hybrid and whistler waves with f_ci << f < f_ce downstream of four supercritical interplanetary (IP) shocks using the Wind search coil magnetometer. The whistler waves were observed…