Interchange reconnection as the source of the fast solar wind within coronal holes

The fast solar wind that fills the heliosphere originates from deep within regions of open magnetic field on the Sun called 'coronal holes'. The energy source responsible for accelerating the plasma is widely debated; however, there is evidence that it is ultimately magnetic in nature, with candidate mechanisms including wave heating^1,2 and interchange reconnection^3-5. The coronal magnetic field near the solar surface is structured on scales associated with 'supergranulation' convection cells, whereby descending flows create intense fields. The energy density in these 'network' magnetic field bundles is a candidate energy source for the wind. Here we report measurements of fast solar wind streams from the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft⁶ that provide strong evidence for the interchange reconnection mechanism. We show that the supergranulation structure at the coronal base remains imprinted in the near-Sun solar wind, resulting in asymmetric patches of magnetic 'switchbacks'^7,8 and bursty wind streams with power-law-like energetic ion spectra to beyond 100 keV. Computer simulations of interchange reconnection support key features of the observations, including the ion spectra. Important characteristics of interchange reconnection in the low corona are inferred from the data, including that the reconnection is collisionless and that the energy release rate is sufficient to power the fast wind. In this scenario, magnetic reconnection is continuous and the wind is driven by both the resulting plasma pressure and the radial Alfvénic flow bursts.

Searching for a Solar Source of Magnetic-Field Switchbacks in Parker Solar Probe's First Encounter

Parker Solar Probe observations show ubiquitous magnetic-field reversals closer to the Sun, often referred to as "switchbacks". The switchbacks have been observed before in the solar wind near 1 AU and beyond, but their occurrence was historically rare. PSP measurements below ∼ 0.2 AU show that switchbacks are, however, the most prominent structures in the "young" solar wind. In this work, we analyze remote-sensing observations of a small equatorial coronal hole to which PSP was connected during the perihelion of Encounter 1. We investigate whether some of the switchbacks captured during the encounter were of coronal origin by correlating common switchback in situ signatures with remote observations of their expected coronal footpoint. We find strong evidence that timescales present in the corona are relevant to the outflowing, switchback-filled solar wind, as illustrated by strong linear correlation. We also determine that spatial analysis of the observed region is optimal, as the implied average solar-wind speed more closely matches that observed by PSP at the time. We observe that hemispherical structures are strongly correlated with the radial proton velocity and the mass flux in the solar wind. The above findings suggest that a subpopulation of the switchbacks are seeded at the corona and travel into interplanetary space.

Parker Solar Probe Observations of Solar Wind Energetic Proton Beams Produced by Magnetic Reconnection in the Near-Sun Heliospheric Current Sheet

We report observations of reconnection exhausts in the Heliospheric Current Sheet (HCS) during Parker Solar Probe Encounters 08 and 07, at 16 R _s and 20 R _s , respectively. Heliospheric current sheet (HCS) reconnection accelerated protons to almost twice the solar wind speed and increased the proton core energy by a factor of ∼3, due to the Alfvén speed being comparable to the solar wind flow speed at these near-Sun distances. Furthermore, protons were energized to super-thermal energies. During E08, energized protons were found to have leaked out of the exhaust along separatrix field lines, appearing as field-aligned energetic proton beams in a broad region outside the HCS. Concurrent dropouts of strahl electrons, indicating disconnection from the Sun, provide further evidence for the HCS being the source of the beams. Around the HCS in E07, there were also proton beams but without electron strahl dropouts, indicating that their origin was not the local HCS reconnection exhaust.

Alfvénic velocity spikes and rotational flows in the near-Sun solar wind

The prediction of a supersonic solar wind¹ was first confirmed by spacecraft near Earth^2,3 and later by spacecraft at heliocentric distances as small as 62 solar radii⁴. These missions showed that plasma accelerates as it emerges from the corona, aided by unidentified processes that transport energy outwards from the Sun before depositing it in the wind. Alfvénic fluctuations are a promising candidate for such a process because they are seen in the corona and solar wind and contain considerable energy^5-7. Magnetic tension forces the corona to co-rotate with the Sun, but any residual rotation far from the Sun reported until now has been much smaller than the amplitude of waves and deflections from interacting wind streams⁸. Here we report observations of solar-wind plasma at heliocentric distances of about 35 solar radii^9-11, well within the distance at which stream interactions become important. We find that Alfvén waves organize into structured velocity spikes with duration of up to minutes, which are associated with propagating S-like bends in the magnetic-field lines. We detect an increasing rotational component to the flow velocity of the solar wind around the Sun, peaking at 35 to 50 kilometres per second-considerably above the amplitude of the waves. These flows exceed classical velocity predictions of a few kilometres per second, challenging models of circulation in the corona and calling into question our understanding of how stars lose angular momentum and spin down as they age^12-14.

New Closures for More Precise Modeling of Landau Damping in the Fluid Framework

Incorporation of kinetic effects such as Landau damping into a fluid framework was pioneered by Hammett and Perkins, by obtaining closures of the fluid hierarchy, where the gyrotropic heat flux fluctuations or the deviation of the fourth-order gyrotropic fluid moment are expressed through lower-order fluid moments. To obtain a closure of a fluid model expanded around a bi-Maxwellian distribution function, the usual plasma dispersion function Z(ζ) that appears in kinetic theory or the associated plasma response function R(ζ)=1+ζZ(ζ) has to be approximated with a suitable Padé approximant in such a way that the closure is valid for all ζ values. Such closures are rare, and the original closures of Hammett and Perkins are often employed. Here we present a complete mapping of all plausible Landau fluid closures that can be constructed at the level of fourth-order moments in the gyrotropic limit and we identify the most precise closures. Furthermore, by considering 1D closures at higher-order moments, we show that it is possible to reproduce linear Landau damping in the fluid framework to any desired precision, thus showing convergence of the fluid and collisionless kinetic descriptions.

The FIELDS Instrument Suite for Solar Probe Plus: Measuring the Coronal Plasma and Magnetic Field, Plasma Waves and Turbulence, and Radio Signatures of Solar Transients

NASA's Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission will make the first in situ measurements of the solar corona and the birthplace of the solar wind. The FIELDS instrument suite on SPP will make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields, the properties of in situ plasma waves, electron density and temperature profiles, and interplanetary radio emissions, amongst other things. Here, we describe the scientific objectives targeted by the SPP/FIELDS instrument, the instrument design itself, and the instrument concept of operations and planned data products.

Models of coronal heating, turbulence and fast reconnection

Coronal heating is at the origin of the EUV and X-ray emission and mass loss from the sun and many other stars. While different scenarios have been proposed to explain the heating of magnetically confined and open regions of the corona, they must all rely on the transfer, storage and dissipation of the abundant energy present in photospheric motions, which, coupled to magnetic fields, give rise to the complex phenomenology seen at the chromosphere and transition region (i.e. spicules, jets, 'tornadoes'). Here we discuss models and numerical simulations which rely on magnetic fields and electric currents both for energy transfer and for storage in the corona. We will revisit the sources and frequency spectrum of kinetic and electromagnetic energies, the role of boundary conditions, and the routes to small scales required for effective dissipation. Because reconnection in current sheets has been, and still is, one of the most important processes for coronal heating, we will also discuss recent aspects concerning the triggering of reconnection instabilities and the transition to fast reconnection.

Magnetohydrodynamic turbulent cascade of coronal loop magnetic fields

The Parker model for coronal heating is investigated through a high resolution simulation. An inertial range is resolved where fluctuating magnetic energy EMk[Please see symbol]) [Please see symbol] k[Please see symbol](-2.7) exceeds kinetic energy EK(k[Please see symbol])[Please see symbol]k[Please see symbol](-0.6). Increments scale as δbℓ ~/= ℓ(-0.85) and δuℓ ~/= ℓ(+0.2) with velocity increasing at small scales, indicating that magnetic reconnection plays a prime role in this turbulent system. We show that spectral energy transport is akin to standard magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence even for a system of reconnecting current sheets sustained by the boundary. In this new MHD turbulent cascade, kinetic energy flows are negligible while cross-field flows are enhanced, and through a series of "reflections" between the two fields, cascade more than half of the total spectral energy flow.