We solve the problem of propagation and dissipation of Alfvenic turbulence in a model solar atmosphere consisting of a static photosphere and chromosphere, transition region, and open corona and solar wind, using a phenomenological model for the turbulent dissipation based on wave reflection. We show that most of the dissipation for a given wave-frequency spectrum occurs in the lower corona, and the overall rms amplitude of the fluctuations evolves in a way consistent with observations. The frequency spectrum, for a Kolmogorov-like slope, is not found to change dramatically from the photosphere to the solar wind, however it does preserve signatures of transmission throughout the lower atmospheric layers, namely oscillations in the spectrum at high frequencies reminiscent of the resonances found in the linear case. These may disappear once more realistic couplings for the non-linear terms are introduced, or if time-dependent variability of the lower atmospheric layer is introduced.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

A model is presented for generation of fast solar wind in coronal holes, relying on heating that is dominated by turbulent dissipation of MHD fluctuations transported upwards in the solar atmosphere. Scale-separated transport equations include large-scale fields, transverse Alfvénic fluctuations, and a small compressive dissipation due to parallel shears near the transition region. The model accounts for proton temperature, density, wind speed, and fluctuation amplitude as observed in remote sensing and in situ satellite data.

We investigate properties of plasma turbulence from magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) to sub-ion scales by means of two-dimensional, high-resolution hybrid particle-in-cell simulations. We impose an initial ambient magnetic field, perpendicular to the simulation box, and we add a spectrum of largescale magnetic and kinetic fluctuations, with energy equipartition and vanishing correlation. Once the turbulence is fully developed, we observe a MHD inertial range, where the spectra of the perpendicular magnetic field and the perpendicular proton bulk velocity fluctuations exhibit power-law scaling with spectral indices of −5/3 and −3/2, respectively. This behavior is extended over a full decade in wavevectors and is very stable in time. A transition is observed around proton scales. At sub-ion scales, both spectra steepen, with the former still following a power law with a spectral index of ∼ −3. A −2.8 slope is observed in the density and parallel magnetic fluctuations, highlighting the presence of compressive effects at kinetic scales. The spectrum of the perpendicular electric fluctuations follows that of the proton bulk velocity at MHD scales, and flattens at small scales. All these features, which we carefully tested against variations of many parameters, are in good agreement with solar wind observations. The turbulent cascade leads to on overall proton energization with similar heating rates in the parallel and perpendicular directions. While the parallel proton heating is found to be independent on the resistivity, the number of particles per cell and the resolution employed, the perpendicular proton temperature strongly depends on these parameters.

A new path for the generation of a sub-ion scale cascade in collisionless space and astrophysical plasma turbulence, triggered by magnetic reconnection, is uncovered by means of high-resolution two-dimensional hybrid-kinetic simulations employing two complementary approaches, Lagrangian and Eulerian, and different driving mechanisms. The simulation results provide clear numerical evidences that the development of powerlaw energy spectra below the so-called ion break occurs as soon as the first magnetic reconnection events take place, regardless of the actual state of the turbulent cascade at MHD scales. In both simulations, the reconnection-mediated small-scale energy spectrum of parallel magnetic fluctuations exhibits a very stable spectral slope of ∼ −2.8, whether or not a large-scale turbulent cascade has already fully developed. Once a quasi-stationary turbulent state is achieved, the spectrum of the total magnetic fluctuations settles towards a spectral index of −5/3 in the MHD range and of ∼ −3 at sub-ion scales.