Heating of the solar wind in the outer heliosphere

S. V. Chalov (1) , D. B. Alexashov (1) , H.-J. Fahr (2)

1 institute for Problems in Mechanics [Moscow]
2 Institut für Astrophysik und Extraterrestrische Forschung [Bonn]

Small-scale Alfvènic turbulence in the outer heliosphere is mainly determined by a source which is connected with the instability of the initially highly anisotropic velocity distribution of interstellar pick-up protons. The main portion of the generated turbulent energy is subsequently absorbed by the pick-up protons themselves due to the cyclotron-resonant interaction between waves and particles. A small fraction of this energy can be transferred to solar wind protons resulting in their heating. The heating is more efficient in the high-speed solar wind.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

S. V. Chalov, D. B. Alexashov, H.-J. Fahr. Heating of the solar wind in the outer heliosphere. Astrophysics and Space Sciences Transactions, 2006, 2 (1), pp.19-25. ⟨hal-00297476⟩