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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Linking the Langevin equation to scaling properties of space plasma turbulence at sub-ion scales

Simone Benella1, Mirko Stumpo1, Tommaso Alberti2, Oreste Pezzi3,1, Emanuele Papini1, Emiliya Yordanova4, Francesco Valentini5, and Giuseppe Consolini1

  • 1Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
  • 2Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata, 605, 00143 Rome, Italy
  • 3Istituto per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Plasmi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Amendola 122/D, 70126 Bari, Italy
  • 4Swedish Institute for Space Physics, Ångströmlaboratoriet, Lägerhyddsvägen 1, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden
  • 5Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria, Ponte P. Bucci, Cubo 31C, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042014 – Published 19 October, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L042014

Abstract

Current understanding of the kinetic-scale turbulence in weakly collisional plasmas still remains elusive. We employ a general framework in which the turbulent energy transfer is envisioned as a scale-to-scale Langevin process. Fluctuations in the sub-ion range show a global scale invariance, thus suggesting a homogeneous energy repartition. In this Letter, we interpret such a feature by linking the drift term of the Langevin equation to scaling properties of fluctuations. Theoretical expectations are verified on solar wind observations and numerical simulations, thus giving relevance to the proposed framework for understanding kinetic-scale turbulence in space plasmas.

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042014– Published 19 October, 2023
  • Received 24 January 2023
  • Revised 6 April 2023
  • Accepted 8 June 2023
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