Ion Cyclotron Waves in Field-aligned Solar Wind Turbulence

Abstract

The nature of the solar wind parallel fluctuations is investigated in this Letter by using magnetic helicity to characterize their polarization state at proton scales. Our aim is to assess the role of the proton cyclotron instability as a mechanism for generating ion cyclotron waves (ICWs) in solar wind turbulence. The wave polarization is found to depend strongly on the proton temperature anisotropy and on the power level of magnetic fluctuations at fluid scales. The results indicate a clear link between fluid and kinetic scales in the solar wind turbulence, allowing for a picture in which the resonant dissipation of high-frequency Alfvén waves heats protons in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic field, increasing their temperature anisotropy. The velocity distribution thus becomes unstable to the proton cyclotron instability, which then drives the local generation of ICWs in the solar wind.