Turbulence-generated proton-scale structures in the terrestrial magnetosheath
| dc.contributor.author | Vörös, Z. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Yordanova, E. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Echim, M.M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Consolini, G. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Narita, Y. | |
| dc.date | 2016 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-04-06T09:49:54Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2016-04-06T09:49:54Z | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://orfeo.belnet.be/handle/internal/3340 | |
| dc.description | Recent results of numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations suggest that in collisionless space plasmas, turbulence can spontaneously generate thin current sheets. These coherent structures can partially explain the intermittency and the non-homogenous distribution of localized plasma heating in turbulence. In this Letter, Cluster multi-point observations are used to investigate the distribution of magnetic field discontinuities and the associated small-scale current sheets in the terrestrial magnetosheath downstream of a quasi-parallel bow shock. It is shown experimentally, for the first time, that the strongest turbulence-generated current sheets occupy the long tails of probability distribution functions associated with extremal values of magnetic field partial derivatives. During the analyzed one-hour time interval, about a hundred strong discontinuities, possibly proton-scale current sheets, were observed. © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. | |
| dc.language | eng | |
| dc.title | Turbulence-generated proton-scale structures in the terrestrial magnetosheath | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dc.subject.frascati | Physical sciences | |
| dc.audience | Scientific | |
| dc.source.title | Astrophysical Journal Letters | |
| dc.source.volume | 819 | |
| dc.source.issue | 1 | |
| dc.source.page | L15 | |
| Orfeo.peerreviewed | Yes | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.3847/2041-8205/819/1/L15 | |
| dc.identifier.scopus | 2-s2.0-84960194185 |
