Search for: All records

Abstract The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and Wind spacecraft observed the same plasma flow during PSP encounter 15. The solar wind evolves from a sub-Alfvénic flow at 0.08 au to become modestly super-Alfvénic at 1 au. We study the radial evolution of the turbulence properties and deduce the spectral anisotropy based on the nearly incompressible (NI) MHD theory. We find that the spectral index of thez⁺spectrum remains unchanged (∼−1.53), while thez⁻spectrum steepens, the index of which changes from −1.35 to −1.47. The fluctuating kinetic energy is on average greater than the fluctuating magnetic field energy in the sub-Alfvénic flow while smaller in the modestly super-Alfvénic flow. The NI MHD theory well interprets the observed Elsässer spectra. The contribution of 2D fluctuations is nonnegligible for the observedz⁻frequency spectra for both intervals. Particularly, the magnitudes of 2D and NI/slab fluctuations are comparable in the frequency domain for the modestly super-Alfvénic flow, resulting in a slightly concave shape ofz⁻spectrum at 1 au. We show that, in the wavenumber domain, the power ratio of the observed forward NI/slab and 2D fluctuations is  ∼15 at 0.08 au, while it decreases to  ∼3 at 1 au, suggesting the growing significance of the 2D fluctuations as the turbulence evolves in low Mach number solar wind. 

This paper investigates the self-pulsing of dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) at low driving frequencies. In particular, (a) the dependence of current on the product pd of gas pressure p and the gas gap length d, (b) the effects of lossy dielectrics (in resistive discharges) and large dielectric permittivity (in ferroelectrics) on current dynamics, (c) the transition from Townsend to a dynamic capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharge with changing pd values, and (d) the transition from Townsend to a high-frequency CCP regime with increasing the driving frequency. A one-dimensional fluid model of argon plasma is coupled to an equivalent RC circuit for lossy dielectrics. Our results show multiple current pulses per AC period in Townsend and CCP discharge modes which are explained by uncoupled electron–ion transport in the absence of quasineutrality and surface charge deposition at dielectric interfaces. The number of current pulses decreases with an increasing applied frequency when the Townsend discharge transforms into the CCP discharge. The resistive barrier discharge with lossy dielectrics exhibits Townsend and glow modes for the same pd value (7.6 Torr cm) for higher and lower resistances, respectively. Finally, we show that ferroelectric materials can amplify discharge current in DBDs. Similarities between current pulsing in DBD, Trichel pulses in corona discharges, and subnormal oscillations in DC discharges are discussed.