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Compressibility in solar wind plasma turbulence.
Bogdan Hnat1, Sandra C Chapman, George Rowlands
1Physics Department, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. hnat@astro.warwick.ac.uk
Physical Review Letters
|August 11, 2005
Summary
Solar wind turbulence may not be incompressible as often assumed. New analysis reveals its density fluctuations differ from passive scalars in other turbulent systems, suggesting compressibility or unique scaling properties.
Area of Science:
- Plasma physics
- Astrophysics
- Fluid dynamics
Background:
- Incompressible magnetohydrodynamics is a common model for solar wind turbulence.
- Understanding solar wind turbulence is crucial for space weather prediction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the scaling properties of solar wind density fluctuations.
- To compare these properties with passive scalar turbulence models.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing extended self-similarity analysis.
- Examining structure functions of solar wind density fluctuations.
- Comparing derived scaling with passive scalar turbulence in other systems.
Main Results:
- The scaling of solar wind density fluctuations was revealed through extended self-similarity.
- This scaling was found to be inconsistent with that of passive scalars in other turbulent systems.
Conclusions:
- The discrepancy suggests solar wind turbulence might be compressible.
- Alternatively, standard structure function comparisons may not fully represent solar wind inertial range properties.