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Abstract Analysis of ion-kinetic instabilities in solar wind plasmas is crucial for understanding energetics and dynamics throughout the heliosphere, as evident from spacecraft observations of complex ion velocity distribution functions (VDFs) and ubiquitous ion-scale kinetic waves. In this work, we explore machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) classification models to identify unstable cases of ion VDFs driving kinetic waves. Using 34 hybrid particle-in-cell simulations of kinetic protons andα-particles initialized using plasma parameters derived from solar wind (SW) observations, we prepare a data set of nearly 1600 VDFs representing stable/unstable cases and associated plasma and wave properties. We compare feature-based classifiers applied to VDF moments, such as support vector machine and random forest (RF), with DL convolutional neural networks (CNNs) applied directly to VDFs as images in the gyrotropic velocity plane. The best-performing classifier, RF, has an accuracy of 0.96 ± 0.01, and a true skill score of 0.89 ± 0.03, with the majority of missed predictions made near stability thresholds. We study how the variations of the temporal derivative thresholds of anisotropies and magnetic energies, and sampling strategies for simulation runs, affect classification. CNN-based models have the highest accuracy of 0.88 ± 0.18 among all considered if evaluated on the runs entirely not used during the model training. The addition of theE_⊥power spectrum as an input for the ML models leads to the improvement of instability analysis for some cases. The results demonstrate the potential of ML and DL for the detection of ion-scale kinetic instabilities using spacecraft observations of SW and magnetospheric plasmas. 

Abstract Recent observations of the solar wind ions by the SPAN-I instruments on board the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft at solar perihelia (Encounters) 4 and closer find ample evidence of complex anisotropic non-Maxwellian velocity distributions that consist of core, beam, and “hammerhead” (i.e., anisotropic beam) populations. The proton core populations are anisotropic, withT_⊥/T_∥ > 1, and the beams have super-Alfvénic speed relative to the core (we provide an example from Encounter 17). Theα-particle population shows similar features to the protons. These unstable velocity distribution functions (VDFs) are associated with enhanced, right-hand (RH) and left-hand (LH) polarized ion-scale kinetic wave activity, detected by the FIELDS instrument. Motivated by PSP observations, we employ nonlinear hybrid models to investigate the evolution of the anisotropic hot-beam VDFs and model the growth and the nonlinear stage of ion kinetic instabilities in several linearly unstable cases. The models are initialized with ion VDFs motivated by the observational parameters. We find rapidly growing (in terms of proton gyroperiods) combined ion-cyclotron and magnetosonic instabilities, which produce LH and RH ion-scale wave spectra, respectively. The modeled ion VDFs in the nonlinear stage of the evolution are qualitatively in agreement with PSP observations of the anisotropic core and “hammerhead” velocity distributions, quantifying the effect of the ion kinetic instabilities on wind plasma heating close to the Sun. We conclude that the wave–particle interactions play an important role in the energy transfer between the magnetic energy (waves) and random particle motion, leading to anisotropic solar wind plasma heating. 

Abstract Recent in situ observations from Parker Solar Probe (PSP) near perihelia reveal ion beams, temperature anisotropies, and kinetic wave activity. These features are likely linked to solar wind heating and acceleration. During PSP Encounter 17 (at 11.4R_s) on 2023 September 26, the PSP/FIELDS instrument detected enhanced ion-scale wave activity associated with deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium in ion velocity distribution functions (VDFs) observed by the PSP/Solar Probe Analyzers-Ion. Dense beams (secondary populations) were present in the proton VDFs during this wave activity. Using bi-Maxwellian fits to the proton VDFs, we found that the density of the proton beam population increased during the wave activity and, unexpectedly, surpassed the core population at certain intervals. Interestingly, the wave power was reduced during the intervals when the beam population density exceeded the core density. The drift velocity of the beams decreases from 0.9 to 0.7 of the Alfvén speed, and the proton core shows a higher temperature anisotropy (T_⊥/T_∥ > 2.5) during these intervals. We conclude that the observations during these intervals are consistent with a reconnection event during a heliospheric current sheet crossing. During this event,α-particle parameters (density, velocity, and temperature anisotropy) remained nearly constant. Using linear analysis, we examined how the proton beam drives instability or wave dissipation. Furthermore, we investigated the nonlinear evolution of ion kinetic instabilities using hybrid kinetic simulations. This study provides direct clues about energy transfer between particles and waves in the young solar wind. 

A growing body of evidence suggests that the solar wind is powered to a large extent by an Alfvén-wave (AW) energy flux. AWs energize the solar wind via two mechanisms: heating and work. We use high-resolution direct numerical simulations of reflection-driven AW turbulence (RDAWT) in a fast-solar-wind stream emanating from a coronal hole to investigate both mechanisms. In particular, we compute the fraction of the AW power at the coronal base ( $$P_\textrm {AWb}$$ ) that is transferred to solar-wind particles via heating between the coronal base and heliocentric distance $$r$$ , which we denote by $$\chi _{H}(r)$$ , and the fraction that is transferred via work, which we denote by $$\chi _{W}(r)$$ . We find that $$\chi _{W}(r_{A})$$ ranges from 0.15 to 0.3, where $$r_{A}$$ is the Alfvén critical point. This value is small compared with one because the Alfvén speed $$v_{A}$$ exceeds the outflow velocity $$U$$ at $$r < r_{A}$$ , so the AWs race through the plasma without doing much work. At $$r>r_{A}$$ , where $$v_{A} < U$$ , the AWs are in an approximate sense ‘stuck to the plasma’, which helps them do pressure work as the plasma expands. However, much of the AW power has dissipated by the time the AWs reach $$r=r_{A}$$ , so the total rate at which AWs do work on the plasma at $$r>r_{A}$$ is a modest fraction of $$P_\textrm {AWb}$$ . We find that heating is more effective than work at $$r < r_{A}$$ , with $$\chi _{H}(r_{A})$$ ranging from 0.5 to 0.7. The reason that $$\chi _{H} \geq 0.5$$ in our simulations is that an appreciable fraction of the local AW power dissipates within each Alfvén-speed scale height in RDAWT, and there are a few Alfvén-speed scale heights between the coronal base and $$r_{A}$$ . A given amount of heating produces more magnetic moment in regions of weaker magnetic field. Thus, paradoxically, the average proton magnetic moment increases robustly with increasing $$r$$ at $$r>r_{A}$$ , even though the total rate at which AW energy is transferred to particles at $$r>r_{A}$$ is a small fraction of $$P_\textrm {AWb}$$ . 

Abstract The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) routinely observes magnetic field deflections in the solar wind at distances less than 0.3 au from the Sun. These deflections are related to structures commonly called “switchbacks” (SBs), whose origins and characteristic properties are currently debated. Here, we use a database of visually selected SB intervals—and regions of solar wind plasma measured just before and after each SB—to examine plasma parameters, turbulent spectra from inertial to dissipation scales, and intermittency effects in these intervals. We find that many features, such as perpendicular stochastic heating rates and turbulence spectral slopes are fairly similar inside and outside of SBs. However, important kinetic properties, such as the characteristic break scale between the inertial to dissipation ranges differ inside and outside these intervals, as does the level of intermittency, which is notably enhanced inside SBs and in their close proximity, most likely due to magnetic field and velocity shears observed at the edges. We conclude that the plasma inside and outside of an SB, in most of the observed cases, belongs to the same stream, and that the evolution of these structures is most likely regulated by kinetic processes, which dominate small-scale structures at the SB edges.