Solitary Alfvén Waves

Abstract

We present the solitary Alfvén wave as an ideal nonlinear Alfvénic solution in the solitary far-field limit and construct a three-dimensional numerical model -- an \emph{Alfvénon}. The model is characterized by an unperturbed far field, quasi-constant $|\mathbf{B}|$, and open field-line topology. Direct MHD simulations of the Alfvénon show coherent finite-time propagation, confirming that it behaves as a nonlinear solitary Alfvénic solution under ideal MHD evolution.

Accepted by ApJL