The first observable in-situ evidence of Alfvenic turbulence in shock-sheath

TL;DR

This paper presents the first direct in-situ evidence of Alfvenic turbulence within a shock-sheath region in interplanetary space, advancing understanding of plasma turbulence and energy dissipation mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first observational confirmation of Alfvenic turbulence in shock-sheaths, a phenomenon previously only theorized, with significant implications for space plasma physics.

Findings

First in-situ evidence of Alfvenic turbulence in shock-sheath

Identification of Alfvenic shocks in interplanetary space

Implications for plasma heating and energy transport mechanisms

Abstract

The dynamic evolution of coronal mass ejection (CME) in interplanetary space generates highly turbulent, compressed and heated shock-sheath. This region furnishes a unique environment to study the turbulent fluctuations at the small scales and serve an opportunity for unfolding the physical mechanisms by which the turbulence is dissipated and plasma is heated. How does the turbulence in the magnetized plasma control the energy transport process in space and astrophysical plasmas is an attractive and challenging open problem of the 21st century. The literature discusses three types of incompressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) shocks as the magnetosonic (fast), Alfvenic (intermediate), and sonic (slow). The magnetosonic shock is most common in the interplanetary medium. However, Alfvenic shocks have not been identified till date in interplanetary space. In fact, the questions were raised on their existence based on the theoretical ground. Here, we demonstrate the first observable in-situ evidence of Alfvenic turbulent shock-sheath at 1 AU. The study has strong implications in the domain of an interplanetary space plasma, its interaction with planetary plasma and astrophysical plasma.