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Excitation of magnetosonic waves in the undisturbed solar wind
Author(s) -
Xue Song,
Thorne Richard M.,
Summers Danny
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/96gl02202
Subject(s) - physics , solar wind , computational physics , anisotropy , excitation , magnetic field , geophysics , landau damping , wave propagation , plasma , optics , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics
The growth and damping properties of linear magnetosonic ( R ‐mode compressional Alfvén) waves are compared for the idealized case of either generalized bi‐Lorentzian or bi‐Maxwellian fits to solar wind parameters within 1 AU. Measured proton temperature anisotropies ( T ∥, p , > T ⟂, p ) can provide significant local convective amplification, though only for small angles of propagation to the magnetic field. For more oblique propagation, waves are subject to Landau damping and cyclotron resonant absorption. Since it is unlikely that Waves will remain confined to a small cone of propagation over the appreciable distances (∼10 6 km) necessary for significant growth, this confinement could explain the apparent absence of magnetosonic waves in the undisturbed solar wind.