Electrostatic Short-Scale Termination of Solar-Wind Turbulence

Recent hybrid Vlasov simulations [F. Valentini , Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 025006 (2008)] have shown that the short-scale termination of solar-wind turbulence is characterized by the occurrence of longitudinal electrostatic fluctuations. Beside the ion-acoustic branch, in agreement with solar-wind observations, a novel branch of acoustic-like waves, with phase velocity close to the ion thermal speed, has been recovered in the simulations. In this Letter, we show that these waves turn out to be Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal-like solutions of the hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell equations, driven by kinetic effects of resonant particle trapping. We also discuss the development of the solar-wind turbulent spectra across the ion inertial length and especially stress the fact that turbulence privileges acoustic paths to develop towards short wavelengths.