Journal article
Evidence for electron Landau damping in space plasma turbulence
Nature communications, Vol.10(1), pp.740-740
02/14/2019
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08435-3
PMCID: PMC6375956
PMID: 30765843
Abstract
How turbulent energy is dissipated in weakly collisional space and astrophysical plasmas is a major open question. Here, we present the application of a field-particle correlation technique to directly measure the transfer of energy between the turbulent electromagnetic field and electrons in the Earth's magnetosheath, the region of solar wind downstream of the Earth's bow shock. The measurement of the secular energy transfer from the parallel electric field as a function of electron velocity shows a signature consistent with Landau damping. This signature is coherent over time, close to the predicted resonant velocity, similar to that seen in kinetic Alfven turbulence simulations, and disappears under phase randomisation. This suggests that electron Landau damping could play a significant role in turbulent plasma heating, and that the technique is a valuable tool for determining the particle energisation processes operating in space and astrophysical plasmas.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Evidence for electron Landau damping in space plasma turbulence
- Creators
- C H K Chen - Queen Mary University of LondonK G Klein - University of ArizonaG G Howes - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nature communications, Vol.10(1), pp.740-740
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41467-019-08435-3
- PMID
- 30765843
- PMCID
- PMC6375956
- NLM abbreviation
- Nat Commun
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- eISSN
- 2041-1723
- Grant note
- 80NSSC18K1371 / Intramural NASA 80NSSC18K0643 / Intramural NASA
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/14/2019
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984428810602771
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