Space plasmas are assumed to be highly active and dynamic systems including waves and turbulence. Electromagnetic waves such as Alfven waves interact with one another, producing daughter waves. In our study based on three-dimensional hybrid simulations, we emphasize the role of obliquely propagating daughter waves in particle heating in low-temperature (or low-beta) plasmas. The evolutions of plasma turbulence, wave dissipation, and heating are essential problems in astrophysics.

Does the reformation of perpendicular shocks really exist in the real space plasma? The reformation was first reported in numerical simulations in one spatial dimension, and then was indicated by in situ observation by the Cluster spacecraft. The present study aimed to answer this question by performing advanced numerical simulations in two spatial dimensions. The present study suggests that the reformation exists under a limited plasma condition.

An algorithm is proposed to estimate the spectral index of the turbulence energy spectrum directly in the wavenumber domain using multiple-sensor-array data. In contrast to the conventional method using time series data and Fourier transform of the fluctuation energy onto the frequency domain, the proposed algorithm does not require the assumption of Taylor's frozen inflow hypothesis, enabling direct comparison of the spectra in the wavenumber domain with various theoretical predictions.