title: Gyrokinetic simulations of solar wind turbulence from ion to electron scales.
abstract: A three-dimensional, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulation of plasma turbulence resolving scales from the ion to electron gyroradius with a realistic mass ratio is presented, where all damping is provided by resolved physical mechanisms. The resulting energy spectra are quantitatively consistent with a magnetic power spectrum scaling of k(-2.8) as observed in in situ spacecraft measurements of the "dissipation range" of solar wind turbulence. Despite the strongly nonlinear nature of the turbulence, the linear kinetic Alfvén wave mode quantitatively describes the polarization of the turbulent fluctuations. The collisional ion heating is measured at subion-Larmor radius scales, which provides evidence of the ion entropy cascade in an electromagnetic turbulence simulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. gregory-howes@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Howes
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: TenBarge
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dorland
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Quataert
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Schekochihin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Numata
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tatsuno