Experimental evidence of phase coherence of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind: GEOTAIL satellite data

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is commonly observed in the solar wind. Nonlinear interactions among MHD waves are likely to produce finite correlation of the wave phases. For discussions of various transport processes of energetic particles, it is fundamentally important to determine whether the wave phases are randomly distributed (as assumed in the quasi-linear theory) or have a finite coherence. Using a method based on the surrogate data technique, we analysed the GEOTAIL magnetic field data to evaluate the phase coherence in MHD turbulence in the Earth's foreshock region. The results demonstrate the existence of finite phase correlation, indicating that nonlinear wave-wave interactions are in progress.

Deimos: An Obstacle to the Solar Wind

Two isolated solar wind disturbances about 5 minutes in duration were detected aboard the Russian spacecraft Phobos-2 upon its crossing the wake of the martian moon Deimos about 15,000 kilometers downstream from the moon on 1 February 1989. These plasma and magnetic events are interpreted as the inbound and outbound crossings of a Mach cone that is formed as a result of an effective interaction of the solar wind with Deimos. Possible mechanisms such as remanent magnetization, cometary type interaction caused by heavy ion or charged dust production, and unipolar induction resulting from the finite conductivity of the body are discussed. Although none of the present models is fully satisfactory, neutral gas emission through water loss by Deimos at a rate of about 10(23) molecules per second, combined with a charged dust coma, is favored.