Linear transport of solar wind fluctuations

Abstract

Numerical solutions for the linear transport of solar wind fluctuations are presented. The model used takes into account the effects of advection, expansion, and wave propagation, as well as the recently illuminated effects of (non-WKB) “mixing” terms. The radial evolution of the fluctuating kinetic and magnetic energies and of the cross helicity is computed, and it is demonstrated that in appropriate limits the solutions converge to the WKB forms. In more general cases, however, where the fluctuations consist of a superposition of various types of turbulence, mixing leads to solutions which differ substantially from those predicted by WKB theory. The degree of mixing shows considerable dependence on the nature of the turbulence, giving rise to varying levels, at 1 ∼ AU, of the ratio of “inward” and “outward” fluctuation energies and the ratio of kinetic and magnetic fluctuation energies. The transport properties described here may provide a partial explanation for the observed decrease of cross helicity with increasing heliocentric distance in the solar wind.