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Parametric decay of parallel and oblique Alfvén waves in the expanding solar wind

Part of: Present Achievements in SpacePlasmas Focus on Space Plasmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2014

L. Del Zanna ,
L. Matteini ,
S. Landi ,
A. Verdini  and
M. Velli
L. Del Zanna*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy INFN - Sezione di Firenze, Italy
L. Matteini
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Imperial College London, UK
S. Landi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
A. Verdini
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy Solar-Terrestrial Center of Excellence, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
M. Velli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

The long-term evolution of large-amplitude Alfvén waves propagating in the solar wind is investigated by performing two-dimensional MHD simulations within the expanding box model. The linear and nonlinear phases of the parametric decay instability are studied for both circularly polarized waves in parallel propagation and for arc-polarized waves in oblique propagation. The non-monochromatic case is also considered. In the oblique case, the direct excitation of daughter modes transverse to the local background field is found for the first time in an expanding environment, and this transverse cascade seems to be favored for monochromatic mother waves. The expansion effect reduces the instability growth rate, and it can even suppress its onset for the lowest frequency modes considered here, possibly explaining the persistence of these outgoing waves in the solar wind.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 81 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , 325810102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

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