Proton heating via nonresonant scattering off intrinsic Alfvénic turbulence.
A novel yet unsophisticated theory is proposed to show that low-beta protons can be efficiently heated by enhanced Alfvén waves. The present research is motivated by a plasma physics issue relevant to the explanation of hot stellar coronas observed with x-ray telescopes. The efficient heating is attributed to nonresonant wave-particle scattering that tends to randomize proton motion in directions transverse to the ambient magnetic field.
Wu
C S
CS
CAS Key Laboratory of Basic Plasma Physics, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. cswu@ustc.edu.cn
Yoon
P H
PH