Microscale fluctuations in the solar wind

Abstract

Theoretical constraints on the interpretation of fluctuations (either propagating or stationary) in the interplanetary medium are reviewed, with emphasis on the important differences between the properties of hydromagnetic waves (and stationary structures) in collisionless and in collision-dominated plasmas, and on the possible roles of Landau damping and nonlinear effects in determining the interplanetary fluctuation spectrum. Hypotheses about the origins of the fluctuations and their influence on the large-scale properties of the solar wind are reviewed.