Large-scale Control of Kinetic Dissipation in the Solar Wind

Abstract

In this Letter we study the connection between the large-scale dynamics of the turbulence cascade and particle heating on kinetic scales. We find that the inertial range turbulence amplitude ($\delta B_i$; measured in the range of 0.01-0.1 Hz) is a simple and effective proxy to identify the onset of significant ion heating and when it is combined with ${\beta }_{||p}$, it characterizes the energy partitioning between protons and electrons ($T_p/T_e$), proton temperature anisotropy ($T_{\perp }/T_{||}$) and scalar proton temperature ($T_p$) in a way that is consistent with previous predictions. For a fixed $\delta B_i$, the ratio of linear to nonlinear timescales is strongly correlated with the scalar proton temperature in agreement with Matthaeus et al., though for solar wind intervals with ${\beta }_{||p}>1$ some discrepancies are found. For a fixed ${\beta }_{||p}$, an increase of the turbulence amplitude leads to higher $T_p/T_e$ ratios, which is consistent with the models of Chandran et al. and Wu et al. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of plasma turbulence.

arXiv commentAccepted in ApJL

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Stochastic proton heating by kinetic-Alfvén-wave turbulence in moderately high-$\beta$ plasmas
• Magnetic helicity signature and its role in regulating magnetic energy spectra and proton temperatures in the solar wind
• Dependence of ion temperatures on alpha-proton differential flow vector and heating mechanisms in the solar wind