A comparative study of four-field and fully compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind

A. Bhattacharjee, C. S. Ng, S. Ghosh, M. L. Goldstein

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

A four-field system of equations has been recently derived from the compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations to describe turbulence in the solar wind. These equations apply to a plasma permeated by a spatially varying mean magnetic field when the plasma beta is of the order unity or less. In the presence of spatial inhomogeneities, the four-field equations predict pressure fluctuations of the order of the Mach number of the turbulence, as observed by Helios 1 and 2. It is shown that inhomogeneities that occur only in the form of pressure-balanced structures cannot account for density fluctuations as large as the Mach number of the turbulence. Numerical predictions from the four-field and compressible MHD equations are compared using the same initial condition. The comparison shows that the predictions of the four-field model are qualitatively consistent with the predictions of the compressible MHD model and suggests that the four-field model is a viable model of compressible turbulence in the solar wind.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1999JA900327
Pages (from-to)24835-24843
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume104
Issue numberA11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 1999
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geochemistry and Petrology
  • Geophysics
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Oceanography

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