3,203 research outputs found
Validity of the Taylor Hypothesis for Linear Kinetic Waves in the Weakly Collisional Solar Wind
The interpretation of single-point spacecraft measurements of solar wind
turbulence is complicated by the fact that the measurements are made in a frame
of reference in relative motion with respect to the turbulent plasma. The
Taylor hypothesis---that temporal fluctuations measured by a stationary probe
in a rapidly flowing fluid are dominated by the advection of spatial structures
in the fluid rest frame---is often assumed to simplify the analysis. But
measurements of turbulence in upcoming missions, such as Solar Probe Plus,
threaten to violate the Taylor hypothesis, either due to slow flow of the
plasma with respect to the spacecraft or to the dispersive nature of the plasma
fluctuations at small scales. Assuming that the frequency of the turbulent
fluctuations is characterized by the frequency of the linear waves supported by
the plasma, we evaluate the validity of the Taylor hypothesis for the linear
kinetic wave modes in the weakly collisional solar wind. The analysis predicts
that a dissipation range of solar wind turbulence supported by whistler waves
is likely to violate the Taylor hypothesis, while one supported by kinetic
Alfven waves is not.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
- …