Flattening of the Density Spectrum in Compressible Hall-MHD Simulations

Observations of proton density fluctuations of the solar wind at 1 au have shown the presence of a decade-long transition region of the density spectrum above sub-ion scales, characterized by a flattening of the spectral slope. We use the proton density fluctuations data collected by the BMSW instrument on-board the Spektr-R satellite in order to delimit the plasma parameters under which the transition region can be observed. Under similar plasma conditions to those in observations, we carry out 3D compressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and Hall-MHD numerical simulations and find that Hall physics is necessary to generate the transition region. The analysis of the k omega power spectrum in the Hall-MHD simulation indicates that the flattening of the density spectrum is associated with fluctuations having frequencies smaller than the ion cyclotron frequency.

Automated summary

Observations and numerical simulations reveal a decade-long transition region in the solar wind, characterized by a flattening of the density spectrum slope, with Hall physics being essential for its generation. The analysis of power spectrum in the simulations suggests that the flattening of density spectrum is associated with fluctuations below the ion cyclotron frequency.