MULTIPLE CURRENT SHEET SYSTEMS IN THE OUTER HELIOSPHERE: ENERGY RELEASE AND TURBULENCE

ABSTRACT In the outer heliosphere, beyond the solar wind termination shock, it is expected that the warped heliospheric current sheet forms a region of closely packed, multiple, thin current sheets. Such a system may be subject to the ion-kinetic tearing instability, and hence may generate magnetic...

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Published inThe Astrophysical journal Vol. 822; no. 1; p. 38
Main Authors Burgess, D., Gingell, P. W., Matteini, L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States The American Astronomical Society 01.05.2016
Subjects
ACCELERATION
ANISOTROPY
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CAPTURE
Current sheets
EVOLUTION
FLUCTUATIONS
HELIOSPHERE
Instability
IONS
MAGNETIC ISLANDS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
NEONATES
Populations
Propagation
PROTONS
SIMULATION
SOLAR WIND
SUN
Sun: heliosphere
Tearing
TEARING INSTABILITY
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TURBULENCE
Turbulent flow
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ISSN0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI10.3847/0004-637X/822/1/38

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Summary:ABSTRACT In the outer heliosphere, beyond the solar wind termination shock, it is expected that the warped heliospheric current sheet forms a region of closely packed, multiple, thin current sheets. Such a system may be subject to the ion-kinetic tearing instability, and hence may generate magnetic islands and hot populations of ions associated with magnetic reconnection. Reconnection processes in this environment have important implications for local particle transport, and for particle acceleration at reconnection sites and in turbulence. We study this complex environment by means of three-dimensional hybrid simulations over long timescales, in order to capture the evolution from linear growth of the tearing instability to a fully developed turbulent state at late times. The final state develops from the highly ordered initial state via both forward and inverse cascades. Component and spectral anisotropy in the magnetic fluctuations is present when a guide field is included. The inclusion of a population of newborn interstellar pickup protons does not strongly affect these results. Finally, we conclude that reconnection between multiple current sheets can act as an important source of turbulence in the outer heliosphere, with implications for energetic particle acceleration and propagation.
Bibliography:ApJ101374
The Solar System
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ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/0004-637X/822/1/38