Noncompressive density enhancements in the solar wind

Abstract

When the bulk flow speed is nearly constant or falling, high densities are sometimes observed in the solar wind. These densities do not appear to be generated in interplanetary space. It is noted that the magnetic field is not enhanced within these events, and that the proton and/or electron temperatures are low, varying in opposition to the density. About 1/3 of these density events contains interplanetary magnetic field reversals, some of which are noisy and do not qualify as sector boundaries. It is estimated that the average event contains approximately 10 to the 16th g of material and 2.6 x 10 to the 31st ergs, so that aggregated events, when they are common, make a negligible contribution to the total mass and energy budget of the solar wind at 1 AU. It is suggested that there may be an association between density enhancements and solar coronal mass ejection events.