Characteristic parameters of drift vortices coupled to Alfvén waves in an inhomogeneous space plasma.
We present detailed measurements of ion scale vortices of drift type coupled to Alfvén waves in an inhomogeneous and collisionless space magnetoplasma. The two free parameters of a dipolar vortex, intensity and spatial radius, are measured. The vortices are driven by a strong density gradient on a boundary layer with scale size of the same order as the vortex diameter. Observations of vortices off the gradient show that symmetry-breaking conditions in a real inhomogeneous plasma can lead not only to cross-field but also to cross-boundary anomalous transport of particles and energy.
Sundkvist
David
D
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. sundkvist@ssl.berkeley.edu
Bale
Stuart D
SD