Paper detail

Dependence of Solar Wind Proton Temperature on the Polarisation Properties of Alfvénic Fluctuations at Ion-kinetic Scales

We use fluctuating magnetic helicity to investigate the polarisation properties of Alfvénic fluctuations at ion-kinetic scales in the solar wind as a function of $β_p$, the ratio of proton thermal pressure to magnetic pressure, and $θ_{vB}$, the angle between the proton flow and local mean magnetic field, $\mathbf{B}_0$. Using almost 15 years of \textit{Wind} observations, we separate the contributions to helicity from fluctuations with wave-vectors, $\textbf{k}$, quasi-parallel and oblique to $\mathbf{B}_0$, finding that the helicity of Alfvénic fluctuations is consistent with predictions from linear Vlasov theory. This result suggests that the non-linear turbulent fluctuations at these scales share at least some polarisation properties with Alfvén waves. We also investigate the dependence of proton temperature in the $β_p$-$θ_{vB}$ plane to probe for possible signatures of turbulent dissipation, finding that it correlates with $θ_{vB}$. The proton temperature parallel to $\mathbf{B}_0$ is higher in the parameter space where we measure the helicity of right-handed Alfvénic fluctuations, and the temperature perpendicular to $\mathbf{B}_0$ is higher where we measure left-handed fluctuations. This finding is inconsistent with the general assumption that by sampling different $θ_{vB}$ in the solar wind we can analyse the dependence of the turbulence distribution on $θ_{kB}$, the angle between $\textbf{k}$ and $\mathbf{B}_0$. After ruling out both instrumental and expansion effects, we conclude that our results provide new evidence for the importance of local kinetic processes that depend on $θ_{vB}$ in determining proton temperature in the solar wind.