# Magnetic turbulence spectra and intermittency in the heliosheath and in the local interstellar medium

## TL;DR

This study analyzes magnetic turbulence spectra and intermittency in the heliosheath and local interstellar medium using Voyager data, revealing distinct turbulence regimes, anisotropy, and intermittency characteristics across scales.

## Contribution

It provides the first highly resolved statistical analysis of magnetic turbulence across a broad range of scales in the heliosheath and LISM, including the MHD-to-kinetic transition.

## Key findings

- Identification of energy-injection and inertial-cascade regimes in the heliosheath.
- Observation of anisotropic and compressive turbulence modes.
- Intermittency occurs only at small scales in the interstellar medium.

## Abstract

The understanding of inertial-scale dynamics in the heliosheath is not yet thorough. Magnetic field fluctuations across the inner heliosheath (IHS) and the local interstellar medium (LISM) are here considered to provide accurate and highly resolved statistics over different plasma conditions between 88 and 136 au. By using the unique in situ 48 s measurements from the Voyager Interstellar Mission, we investigate different fluctuation regimes at the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) scales, down to the MHD-to-kinetic transition. We focus on a range of scales exceeding five frequency decades (5 x 10-8 < f < 10-2 Hz), which is unprecedented in literature analysis. A set of magnetic field data for eight intervals in the IHS, in both unipolar and sector regions, and four intervals in the LISM is used for the analysis. Results are set forth in terms of the power spectral density, spectral compressibility, structure functions, and intermittency of magnetic field increments. In the heliosheath, we identify the energy-injection regime displaying a ~1/f energy decay, and the inertial-cascade regime. Here, the power spectrum is anisotropic and dominated by compressive modes, with intermittency that can reach kurtosis values of up to 10. In the interstellar medium the structure of turbulence is anisotropic as well, with transverse fluctuations clearly prevailing after 2015 May. Here, we show that intermittent features occur only at scales smaller than 10-6 Hz.