Particle transport from a turbulence perspective

Abstract

The rate at which energetic charged particles scatter in turbulent magnetic fields is remarkably sensitive to the detailed properties of the turbulence. While the importance of the inertial range power spectrum was recognized early on, more recent studies have emphasized the crucial role played by the geometry of the turbulence, the dissipation range spectrum, and the dynamical character of turbulence. We present the mean free path as a function of energy derived in a turbulence model that incorporates all of these factors, and show that current understanding of turbulence in space permits a wide range of 'predicted' behaviors, including some that agree remarkably well with observation.