PROTON KINETIC EFFECTS IN VLASOV AND SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE

Kinetic plasma processes are investigated in the framework of solar wind turbulence, employing hybrid Vlasov–Maxwell (HVM) simulations. Statistical analysis of spacecraft observation data relates proton temperature anisotropy T⊥/T and parallel plasma beta β, where subscripts refer to the ambient magnetic field direction. Here, this relationship is recovered using an ensemble of HVM simulations. By varying plasma parameters, such as plasma beta and fluctuation level, the simulations explore distinct regions of the parameter space given by T⊥/T and β, similar to solar wind sub-datasets. Moreover, both simulation and solar wind data suggest that temperature anisotropy is not only associated with magnetic intermittent events, but also with gradient-type structures in the flow and in the density. This connection between non-Maxwellian kinetic effects and various types of intermittency may be a key point for understanding the complex nature of plasma turbulence