Parametric decay of parallel and oblique Alfven waves in the expanding solar wind

Abstract

The long-term evolution of large-amplitude Alfven waves propagating in the solar wind is investigated by performing two-dimensional MHD simulations within the expanding box model. The linear and nonlinear phases of the parametric decay instability are studied for both circularly polarized waves in parallel propagation and for arc-polarized waves in oblique propagation. The non-monochromatic case is also considered. In the oblique case, the direct excitation of daughter modes transverse to the local background field is found for the first time in an expanding environment, and this transverse cascade seems to be favored for monochromatic mother waves. The expansion effect reduces the instability growth rate, and it can even suppress its onset for the lowest frequency modes considered here, possibly explaining the persistence of these outgoing waves in the solar wind.

20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Joural of Plasma Physics

References in corpus (4)

• ECHO: an Eulerian Conservative High Order scheme for general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics and magnetodynamics
• Validating a Time-Dependent Wave-Turbulence-Driven Model of the Solar Wind
• Evolution of turbulence in the expanding solar wind, a numerical study
• Kinetically modified parametric instabilities of circularly-polarized Alfven waves: Ion kinetic effects

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