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Empirical Constraints on Proton and Electron Heating in the Fast Solar WindThis paper presents analyses of measured proton and electron temperatures in the high-speed solar wind that are used to calculate the separate rates of heat deposition for protons and electrons. It was found that the protons receive about 60% of the total plasma heating in the inner heliosphere, and that this fraction increases to approximately 80% by the orbit of Jupiter. The empirically derived partitioning of heat between protons and electrons is in rough agreement with theoretical predictions from a model of linear Vlasov wave damping. For a modeled power spectrum consisting only of Alfvenic fluctuations, the best agreement was found for a distribution of wavenumber vectors that evolves toward isotropy as distance increases.
Document ID
20090042321
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Cranmer, Steven R.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Matthaeus, William H.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Breech, Benjamin A.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Kasper, Justin C.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysics Journal
Volume: 702
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX08AQ96G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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