Plasma Turbulence at Subproton Scales
Stanislav Boldyrev
Friday, March 24, 2017
Noon
Hopeman 224
High-resolution measurements of the solar wind reveal plasma fluctuations at the scales smaller than the ion gyroscale. At such kinetic scales, the regular magnetohydrodynamic Alfvenic turbulence cannot exist; rather, it turns into turbulence governed by kinetic Alfven or whistler modes. Such turbulence is responsible for energy dissipation and particle heating in a weakly collisional plasma. We discuss the properties of such subproton-scale plasma turbulence and compare the results with the solar wind measurements.