How magnetic switchbacks form in the solar wind is explained by a new theory.

The formation of magnetic switchbacks around the sun is the subject of a new theory that is developed. The solar wind’s acceleration and heating may be explained by this quantitative model, which can also be used to forecast changes in the magnetic field.

The work, “Theory of Magnetic Switchbacks Fully Supported by Parker Solar Probe Observations,” was published in The Astrophysical Journal by lead author Dr. Gabor Toth in collaboration with Dr. Bart van der Holst at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering and Dr. Marco Velli at UCLA.

Reversals of the solar wind’s radial magnetic field, which originates from the sun’s surface, are known as magnetic switchbacks. Magnetic switchbacks were first observed intermittently in the 1970s and have been recently identified by the Parker Solar Probe as a typical component of solar wind fluctuations in the inner heliosphere.

These magnetic switchbacks are made of spherically polarized Alfvén waves, according to observations from the Parker Solar Probe, but up until now, scientists were unsure of how these switchbacks were created.

Working with Dr. Marco Velli, the lead scientist on the Parker Solar Probe mission, and researchers at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, the new study offers a straightforward and predictable theory for the formation of these magnetic reversals.

The data returned by the Parker Solar Probe following its flyby in 2018 surprised researchers with what they found.

We anticipated that the oscillations would be perpendicular to the radial component of the magnetic field, which should be approximately constant “toth said. “But then, the Parker Solar Probe showed it is actually oscillating in the radial direction.”

He was looking for an explanation for why and how that was occurring. For the first time in a long while, Toth felt motivated to resume his theoretical work.

“You have an Alfvén wave, which is perpendicular to the magnetic field, and the idea is that it gets distorted and it starts to oscillate in different directions,” Toth explained. “The reason for this is that the wave speeds fluctuate. We initially believed that the plasma’s velocity was important, but Bart pointed out that the wave speed is actually responsible for this.”

He created a qualitative and quantitative explanation of the events occurring in the inner heliosphere of the sun in collaboration with his research team.

“First of all, the research is qualitative in that we describe this process with approximate formulas and simplified numerical simulations. After doing the modeling and theory, I spent a lot of time looking at the observations to check if they agree with what the theory predicts. The evidence is quite strong that this process is actually happening.”

If you actually measure the speed of the waves, you’ll see that it changes. “The places where you can see the switchbacks are the same places where you can see how the wave speed changes,” Toth said. “These waves originate near the surface of the Sun and become part of the solar wind.

Initially, the magnetic field and velocity fluctuate rapidly in the horizontal direction, but the waves become distorted by the change in velocity and eventually radially The magnetic field reverses and forms a hairpin bend. New data from the Parker Solar Probe made the study possible. The spacecraft provided unprecedented high-resolution magnetic field and plasma measurements at close proximity to the Sun. Toth used observations of density, velocity, temperature, and magnetic fields as the basis for his research.

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“This was very important because we could see not only that the magnetic field was oscillating, but also that the velocity of the plasma was oscillating and that they were oscillating together. So they are proportional to each other. ” Toth said. “If you measure just the magnetic field, or just the plasma, you won’t be able to determine this relationship.” The Parker Solar Probe’s primary goal was to understand how the solar wind is heated, accelerated, and passes close enough to the Sun to observe the phenomenon.

“The Parker Solar Probe proved that what we believed was not entirely true. “We now have a better understanding of what was observed and how it happened,” Toth said. “The next step is to see if this changes the theory of the solar wind. It’s quite possible that it changes the model.” The primary use of these models is to predict space weather in order to better understand the heliosphere and prepare for the strong impacts that space weather phenomena can have on spacecraft, radio communications, GPS, and even power grids. is. Researchers at the University of Michigan and elsewhere are already collaborating on a space weather modeling framework aimed at providing better predictions of space weather phenomena.

“This is an important part of the future development of space weather and solar wind models and how they incorporate serpentine,” van der Horst said. “We first need a mathematical framework and an understanding of serpentine before we can integrate it into solar wind models and get a complete picture of how to explain the coronal heating mechanism.” One of the current models in the space weather modeling framework is the Alfvén Wave Solar Atmosphere Model (AWSoM). This aims to solve the mystery of Alfvén waves. “The model we have now basically assumes that Alfvén waves are responsible for coronal heating, and this new theory fits well into this framework,” van der Horst said. . New research provides a better understanding of how magnetic switchbacks form, which could lead to more information about solar wind turbulence, inner heliosphere warming, and ultimately better space weather models. It can lead to deeper understanding.

The new work sheds light on the formation of magnetic switchbacks, which may contribute to our understanding of solar wind turbulence, inner heliosphere heating, and ultimately improved space weather models.
“There are two main directions that we can take this work,” stated Toth. Our goal is to complete the numerical modeling of switchbacks in three dimensions and incorporate turbulence into the process. The next area of interest is how the theory of Alfvén wave heating is altered by the switchbacks’ formation.”

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