The Solar Wind Energy Flux

The solar-wind energy flux measured near the ecliptic is known to be independent of the solar-wind speed. Using plasma data from Helios, Ulysses, and Wind covering a large range of latitudes and time, we show that the solar-wind energy flux is independent of the solar-wind speed and latitude within 10%, and that this quantity varies weakly over the solar cycle. In other words the energy flux appears as a global solar constant. We also show that the very high speed solar-wind (VSW > 700 km/s) has the same mean energy flux as the slower wind (VSW < 700 km/s), but with a different histogram. We use this result to deduce a relation between the solar-wind speed and density, which formalizes the anti-correlation between these quantities.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Electron density distribution and solar plasma correction of radio signals using MGS, MEX and VEX spacecraft navigation data and its application to planetary ephemerides

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Express (MEX), and Venus Express (VEX) experienced several superior solar conjunctions. These conjunctions cause severe degradations of radio signals when the line of sight between the Earth and the spacecraft passes near to the solar corona region. The primary objective of this work is to deduce a solar corona model from the spacecraft navigation data acquired at the time of solar conjunctions and to estimate its average electron density. The corrected or improved data are then used to fit the dynamical modeling of the planet motions, called planetary ephemerides. We analyzed the radio science raw data of the MGS spacecraft using the orbit determination software GINS. The range bias, obtained from GINS and provided by ESA for MEX and VEX, are then used to derive the electron density profile. These profiles are obtained for different intervals of solar distances: from 12Rs to 215Rs for MGS, 6Rs to 152Rs for MEX, and form 12Rs to 154Rs for VEX. They are acquired for each spacecraft individually, for ingress and egress phases separately and both phases together, for different types of solar winds (fast, slow), and for solar activity phases (minimum, maximum). We compared our results with the previous estimations that were based on in situ measurements, and on solar type III radio and radio science studies made at different phases of solar activity and at different solar wind states. Our results are consistent with estimations obtained by these different methods. Moreover, fitting the planetary ephemerides including complementary data that were corrected for the solar corona perturbations, noticeably improves the extrapolation capability of the planetary ephemerides and the estimation of the asteroids masses.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Heating of the solar wind with electron and proton effects

We examine the effects of including effects of both protons and electrons on the heating of the fast solar wind through two different approaches. In the first approach, we incorporate the electron temperature in an MHD turbulence transport model for the solar wind. In the second approach, we adopt more empirically based methods by analyzing the measured proton and electron temperatures to calculate the heat deposition rates. Overall, we conclude that incorporating separate proton and electron temperatures and heat conduction effects provides an improved and more complete model of the heating of the solar wind

Polarization entangled photon-pair source based on a type-II PPLN waveguide emitting at a telecom wavelength

We report the realization of a fiber coupled polarization entangled photon-pair source at 1310 nm based on a birefringent titanium in-diffused waveguide integrated on periodically poled lithium niobate. By taking advantage of a dedicated and high-performance setup, we characterized the quantum properties of the pairs by measuring two-photon interference in both Hong-Ou-Mandel and standard Bell inequality configurations. We obtained, for the two sets of measurements, interference net visibilities reaching nearly 100%, which represent important and competitive results compared to similar waveguide-based configurations already reported. These results prove the relevance of our approach as an enabling technology for long-distance quantum communication.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, to appear in New Journal of Physic

High-quality polarization entanglement state preparation and manipulation in standard telecommunication channels

We report a novel and simple approach for generating near-perfect quality polarization entanglement in a fully guided-wave fashion. Both deterministic pair separation into two adjacent telecommunication channels and the paired photons' temporal walk-off compensation are achieved using standard fiber components. Two-photon interference experiments are performed, both for quantitatively demonstrating the relevance of our approach, and for manipulating the produced state between bosonic and fermionic symmetries. The compactness, versatility, and reliability of this configuration makes it a potential candidate for quantum communication applications.Comment: 6 figure

Total Electron Temperature Derived from Quasi-Thermal Noise Spectroscopy In the Pristine Solar Wind: Parker Solar Probe Observations

The Quasi-thermal noise (QTN) technique is a reliable tool to yield accurate measurements of the electron parameters in the solar wind. We apply this method on Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observations to derive the total electron temperature ($T_e$) from the linear fit of the high-frequency part of the QTN spectra acquired by the RFS/FIELDS instrument, and present a combination of 12-day period of observations around each perihelion from Encounter One (E01) to Ten (E10) (with E08 not included) with the heliocentric distance varying from about 13 to 60 solar radii ($R_\odot{}$). We find that the total electron temperature decreases with the distance as $\sim$$R^{-0.66}$, which is much slower than adiabatic. The extrapolated $T_e$ based on PSP observations is consistent with the exospheric solar wind model prediction at $\sim$10 $R_\odot{}$, Helios observations at $\sim$0.3 AU and Wind observations at 1 AU. Also, $T_e$, extrapolated back to 10 $R_\odot{}$, is almost the same as the strahl electron temperature $T_s$ (measured by SPAN-E) which is considered to be closely related to or even almost equal to the coronal electron temperature. Furthermore, the radial $T_e$ profiles in the slower solar wind (or flux tube with larger mass flux) are steeper than those in the faster solar wind (or flux tube with smaller mass flux). More pronounced anticorrelated $V_p$-$T_e$ is observed when the solar wind is slower and closer to the Sun.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, and Astronomy & Astrophysics Accepte

Analysis of Elliptically Polarized Maximally Entangled States for Bell Inequality Tests

When elliptically polarized maximally entangled states are considered, i.e., states having a non random phase factor between the two bipartite polarization components, the standard settings used for optimal violation of Bell inequalities are no longer adapted. One way to retrieve the maximal amount of violation is to compensate for this phase while keeping the standard Bell inequality analysis settings. We propose in this paper a general theoretical approach that allows determining and adjusting the phase of elliptically polarized maximally entangled states in order to optimize the violation of Bell inequalities. The formalism is also applied to several suggested experimental phase compensation schemes. In order to emphasize the simplicity and relevance of our approach, we also describe an experimental implementation using a standard Soleil-Babinet phase compensator. This device is employed to correct the phase that appears in the maximally entangled state generated from a type-II nonlinear photon-pair source after the photons are created and distributed over fiber channels.Comment: 8 page

Wind/WAVES observations of Auroral Kilometric Radiation: automated burst detection and Terrestrial Solar Wind - Magnetosphere coupling effects

Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) is the strongest terrestrial radio emission, and emanates from the same electron acceleration regions from which particles precipitate into the ionosphere, exciting the aurorae and other phenomena. As such, AKR is a barometer for the state of solar wind - magnetosphere - ionosphere coupling. AKR is anisotropically beamed in a hollow cone from a source region generally found at nightside local times, meaning that a single source region cannot be viewed from all local times in the magnetosphere. In radio data such as dynamic spectra, AKR is frequently observed simultaneously to other radio emissions which can have a similar intensity and frequency range, making it difficult to automatically detect. Building on a previously published pipeline to extract AKR emissions from Wind/WAVES data, in this paper a novel automated AKR burst detection technique is presented and applied again to Wind/WAVES data. Over a five year interval, about 5000 AKR bursts are detected with median burst length ranging from about 30-60 minutes. During detected burst windows, higher solar wind velocity is observed, and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) clock angle is observed to tend towards BZ<0, BY<0, when compared with the entire statistical interval. Additionally, higher geomagnetic activity is observed during burst windows at polar, high and equatorial latitudes

Measuring Solar Abundances

This is the rapporteur paper of Working Group 2 on Measuring Solar Abundances. The working group presented and discussed the different observations and methods for obtaining the elemental and isotopic composition of the Sun, and critically reviewed their results and the accuracies thereof. Furthermore, a few important yet unanswered questions were identified, and the potential of future missions to provide answers was assessed

A transonic collisionless model of the solar wind

Because of the semi-collisional nature of the solar wind, the collisionless or exospheric approach as well as the hydrodynamic one are both inaccurate. However, the advantage of simplicity makes them useful for enlightening some basic mechanisms of solar wind acceleration. Previous exospheric models have been able to reproduce winds that were already nearly supersonic at the exobase, the altitude above which there are no collisions. In order to allow transonic solutions, a lower exobase has to be considered, in which case the protons are experiencing a non-monotonic potential energy profile. This is done in the present work. In this model, the electron velocity distribution in the corona is assumed non-thermal. Parametric results are presented and show that the high acceleration obtained does not depend on the details of the non-thermal distributions. This acceleration seems, therefore, to be a robust result produced by the presence of a sufficient number of suprathermal electrons. A method for improving the exospheric description is also given, which consists in mapping particle orbits in terms of their invariants of motion.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (1 May 2004