Proton temperature anisotropies between the directions parallel and
perpendicular to the mean magnetic field are usually observed in the solar wind
plasma. Here, we employ a high-resolution hybrid particle-in-cell simulation in
order to investigate the relation between spatial properties of the proton
temperature and the peaks in the current density and in the flow vorticity. Our
results indicate that, although regions where the proton temperature is
enhanced and temperature anisotropies are larger correspond approximately to
regions where many thin current sheets form, no firm quantitative evidence
supports the idea of a direct causality between the two phenomena. On the other
hand, quite a clear correlation between the behavior of the proton temperature
and the out-of-plane vorticity is obtained.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Solar
Wind Conferenc
