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Article

A prescription for the turbulent heating of astrophysical plasmas

G. G. HowesDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, 505 Van Allen Hall, Iowa City, IA 52245, USA
2010en
ABI

Abstract

Abstract The ion-to-electron heating ratio due to the dissipation of Alfvénic turbulence in astrophysical plasmas is calculated based on a cascade model for turbulence in weakly collisional plasmas. Conditions for validity of this model are discussed, a prescription for the turbulent heating is presented and it is applied to predict turbulent heating in accretion discs and the interstellar medium.

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Citations and references

Cited by 20 references