Open AccessProbability distributions of the induced electric field of the solar wind
Author(s) -
Breech B.,
Matthaeus W. H.,
Milano L. J.,
Smith C. W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2002ja009529
Subject(s) - electric field , physics , solar wind , computational physics , interplanetary magnetic field , magnetohydrodynamic turbulence , particle acceleration , interplanetary spaceflight , field (mathematics) , turbulence , scattering , magnetohydrodynamic drive , magnetohydrodynamics , plasma , mechanics , geophysics , acceleration , atmospheric sciences , classical mechanics , optics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics
The low‐frequency induced electric field in the near‐Earth interplanetary medium is investigated observationally. These electric field fluctuations are associated with magnetohydrodynamic‐scale fluctuations of the magnetic field and plasma velocity. Results of the study, based upon hourly samples with variations computed relative to 4‐day means, indicate that the electric field distribution is roughly exponential. More specifically, the electric field distribution is very nearly the one that is obtained from a quasi‐normal turbulence model [ Milano et al. , 2002]. These results may be useful for particle scattering, acceleration, and turbulence.