Kolmogorov and Irosnikov-Kraichnan scaling in the anisotropic turbulent solar wind

Abstract

Solar wind turbulence is dominated by Alfvénic fluctuations but the power spectral exponents somewhat surprisingly evolve toward the Kolmogorov value of -5/3, that of hydrodynamic turbulence. We show that at 1AU the turbulence decomposes linearly into two coexistent components perpendicular and parallel to the local average magnetic field. The first of these is consistent with propagating Alfvén wavepackets and shows the scaling expected of Alfvénic turbulence, namely Irosnikov- Kraichnan. The second shows Kolmogorov scaling which we also find in the number and magnetic energy density, and Poynting flux.

arXiv comment4 pages, 6 figures, submitted PRL

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• Frame Dependence of the Electric Field Spectrum of Solar Wind Turbulence
• Non Axi-symmetric Anisotropy of Solar Wind Turbulence
• Anisotropic Intermittency of Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence
• Nonaxisymmetric Anisotropy of Solar Wind Turbulence as a Direct Test for the Models of Magnetohydrodynamic Tubulence
• Quantifying the Anisotropy and Solar Cycle Dependence of "$1/f$" Solar Wind Fluctuations Observed by Ace
• The scale-free texture of the fast solar wind
• Generalized similarity in finite range solar wind magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
• Menura: a code for simulating the interaction between a turbulent solar wind and solar system bodies
• Effect of Spherical Polarization on the Magnetic Spectrum of the Solar Wind