Dissipation and wave-ion interaction in the solar wind: Links between fluid and kinetic theory

Abstract. In this paper we establish links between turbulence dissipation and wave-particle interactions in the solar corona and wind. Based on quasilinear theory, a set of anisotropic, multi-component fluid equations is derived, which describe the wave-particle interactions of ions with Alfvén waves and ion-cyclotron waves or magnetosonic waves propagating along the mean magnetic field. The associated equations for the wave spectrum and the heating and acceleration of the ions are derived. In fast solar wind streams heavy ions have about equal thermal speeds as the protons and flow faster than them. In order to explain the observed relations, T_j / T_p ≈ m_j /m_p and U_j U_p ≈ V_A, a numerical fluid-type model is developed, which takes into account the relevant wave-particle interactions. It is shown that left- and right-handed polarized waves propagating away from the Sun parallel to the interplanetary magnetic field can resonantly heat and accelerate minor ions preferentially with respect to the protons in close agreement with the measured characteristics of ion velocity distributions. Finally, some results from a simple analytical model are discussed.