Power Anisotropy, Dispersion Signature and Turbulence Diffusion Region in the 3D Wavenumber Domain of Space Plasma Turbulence

Abstract

We explore the multi-faceted important features of turbulence (e.g., anisotropy, dispersion, diffusion) in the three-dimensional (3D) wavenumber domain ($k_\parallel$, $k_{\perp,1}$, $k_{\perp,2}$), by employing the k-filtering technique to the high-quality measurements of fields and particles from the MMS multi-spacecraft constellation. We compute the 3D power spectral densities (PSDs) of magnetic and electric fluctuations (marked as $\rm{PSD}(δ\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{k}))$ and $\rm{PSD}(δ\mathbf{E}'_{\langle\mathbf{v}_\mathrm{i}\rangle}(\mathbf{k}))$), both of which show a prominent spectral anisotropy in the sub-ion range. We give the first 3D image of the bifurcation between power spectra of the electric and magnetic fluctuations, by calculating the ratio between $\rm{PSD}(δ\mathbf{E}'_{ \langle\mathbf{v}_\mathrm{i}\rangle}(\mathbf{k}))$ and $\rm{PSD}(δ\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{k}))$, the distribution of which is related to the non-linear dispersion relation. We also compute the ratio between electric spectra in different reference frames defined by the ion bulk velocity, that is $\mathrm{PSD}(δ{\mathbf{E}'_{\mathrm{local}\ \mathbf{v}_\mathrm{i}}})/\mathrm{PSD}(δ{\mathbf{E}'_{ \langle\mathbf{v}_\mathrm{i}\rangle}})$, to visualize the turbulence ion diffusion region (T-IDR) in wavenumber space. The T-IDR has an anisotropy and a preferential direction of wavevectors, which is generally consistent with the plasma wave theory prediction based on the dominance of kinetic Alfvén waves (KAW). This work manifests the worth of the k-filtering technique in diagnosing turbulence comprehensively, especially when the electric field is involved.