Alfvén Waves in the Solar Wind

Abstract
Mariner II plasma and magnetic-field data are examined for explicit examples of low-frequency hydromagnetic waves. From the magnetic-field data, several sinusoidal waveforms are isolated. One of these clearly satisfies the hydromagnetic equations relating the magnetic-field variation to the ion-velocity perturbation for an Alfvén wave. This result is consistent with Barnes' theoretical prediction that only the Alfvén mode is not strongly damped in a plasma of moderate or high β.

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