Magnetic Fluctuation Power Near Proton Temperature Anisotropy Instability Thresholds in the Solar Wind

TLDR

Proton temperature anisotropy in the solar wind is constrained by theoretical instability thresholds, yet the dissipation‑range power is often attributed to turbulence, a view that must be reconsidered in light of these constraints. The study seeks to test whether gyroscale magnetic fluctuations are amplified along the mirror, proton oblique firehose, and ion cyclotron instability thresholds. This is accomplished by analyzing roughly one million independent measurements of gyroscale magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind. The results show that magnetic compressibility is enhanced at high parallel beta along the mirror threshold, and that short‑wavelength fluctuation power strongly depends on collisionality, decreasing as collisions relax the temperature anisotropy away from instability conditions.

Abstract

The proton temperature anisotropy in the solar wind is known to be constrained by the theoretical thresholds for pressure anisotropy-driven instabilities. Here we use approximately 1 million independent measurements of gyroscale magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind to show for the first time that these fluctuations are enhanced along the temperature anisotropy thresholds of the mirror, proton oblique firehose, and ion cyclotron instabilities. In addition, the measured magnetic compressibility is enhanced at high plasma beta ($\beta_\parallel \gtrsim 1$) along the mirror instability threshold but small elsewhere, consistent with expectations of the mirror mode. The power in this frequency (the 'dissipation') range is often considered to be driven by the solar wind turbulent cascade, an interpretation which should be qualified in light of the present results. In particular, we show that the short wavelength magnetic fluctuation power is a strong function of collisionality, which relaxes the temperature anisotropy away from the instability conditions and reduces correspondingly the fluctuation power.