Implication of Kinetic Alfven Waves to Magnetic Field Turbulence Spectra: Earth's Magnetosheath

TL;DR

This study analyzes magnetic field spectra in Earth's magnetosheath, revealing a transition to steeper slopes at small scales and proposing kinetic Alfven waves as a key factor influencing turbulence spectra.

Contribution

It combines observational data with theoretical modeling to demonstrate the role of kinetic Alfven waves in shaping magnetic turbulence spectra at small scales.

Findings

Spectral slopes range from -1.5 to 0 at larger scales.

Steeper spectra with slopes between -2.6 to -1.8 at smaller scales.

Kinetic Alfven waves likely influence high-frequency turbulence spectra.

Abstract

In the present paper, we investigate the power-law behaviour of the magnetic field spectra in the Earths magnetosheath region using Cluster spacecraft data under solar minimum condition. The power spectral density of the magnetic field data and spectral slopes at various frequencies are analysed. Propagation angle and compressibility are used to test the nature of turbulent fluctuations. The magnetic field spectra have the spectral slopes between -1.5 to 0 down to spatial scales of 20 ion gyroradius and show clear evidence of a transition to steeper spectra for small scales with a second power-law, having slopes between -2.6 to -1.8. At low frequencies, f_sc<0.3f_ci(where f_ci is ion gyro-frequency), propagation angle approximately 90 degrees to the mean magnetic field, B_0, and compressibility shows a broad distribution, 0.1 < R > 0.9. On the other hand at f_sc>10f_ci, the propagation angle exhibits a broad range between 30-90 degree while 'R' has a small variation: 0.2 < R > 0.5. We conjecture that at high frequencies, the perpendicularly propagating Alfven waves could partly explain the statistical analysis of spectra. To support our prediction of kinetic Alfven wave-dominated spectral slope behaviour at high frequency, we also present a theoretical model and simulate the magnetic field turbulence spectra due to the nonlinear evolution of kinetic Alfven waves. The present study also shows the analogy between the observational and simulated spectra.