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Title: The heliospheric ambipolar potential inferred from sunward-propagating halo electrons
ABSTRACT We provide evidence that the sunward-propagating half of the solar wind electron halo distribution evolves without scattering in the inner heliosphere. We assume the particles conserve their total energy and magnetic moment, and perform a ‘Liouville mapping’ on electron pitch angle distributions measured by the Parker Solar Probe SPAN-E instrument. Namely, we show that the distributions are consistent with Liouville’s theorem if an appropriate interplanetary potential is chosen. This potential, an outcome of our fitting method, is compared against the radial profiles of proton bulk flow energy. We find that the inferred potential is responsible for nearly 100 per cent of the proton acceleration in the solar wind at heliocentric distances 0.18-0.79 AU. These observations combine to form a coherent physical picture: the same interplanetary potential accounts for the acceleration of the solar wind protons as well as the evolution of the electron halo. In this picture the halo is formed from a sunward-propagating population that originates somewhere in the outer heliosphere by a yet-unknown mechanism.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2010098
PAR ID:
10369745
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Publisher / Repository:
Oxford University Press
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume:
515
Issue:
4
ISSN:
0035-8711
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 5135-5144
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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