Weakly turbulent magnetohydrodynamic waves in compressible low-beta plasmas

Abstract

In this Letter, weak-turbulence theory is used to investigate interactions among Alfven waves and fast and slow magnetosonic waves in collisionless low-beta plasmas. The wave kinetic equations are derived from the equations of magnetohydrodynamics, and extra terms are then added to model collisionless damping. These equations are used to provide a quantitative description of a variety of nonlinear processes, including parallel and perpendicular energy cascade, energy transfer between wave types, "phase mixing," and the generation of backscattered Alfven waves.

Department

Physics

Publication Date

12-2-2008

Journal Title

Physical Review Letters

Publisher

AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.235004

Document Type

Article

Rights

© 2008 The American Physical Society

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