Slow-Mode-Driven Alfvén/Ion-Cyclotron (A/IC) and Fast-Magnetosonic/Whistler (FM/W) Instabilities in the Presence of an Alpha-Particle Beam in the Solar Wind

In the solar wind, the differential flow between the alpha particles and the protons is an important source of free energy for driving A/IC waves and FM/W waves unstable. Large-scale slow-mode waves can modulate the differential flow, leading to non-negligible locally time-dependent changes in the drift velocity.

We investigate the behaviour of the maximum differential flow with multi-fluid wave theory in the parameter range 0<U_α/V_A,p<1.5 and 0.1<β_p<10 assuming quasi-perpendicular propagation of the slow mode wave, where U_α is the background alpha particle beam speed, V_A,p is the proton Alfvén velocity, and β_p is the ratio of the thermal proton energy to the magnetic field energy. We derive an analytical expression for the fluctuation in differential flow, the result of which we confirm through numerical evaluation of the multi-fluid wave equation. The thresholds in terms of U_α/V_A,p for the instability of the A/IC and FM/W instabilities in the presence of slow mode waves decrease with increasing slow-mode amplitude and decreasing β_p.

We statistically investigate the differential flow between alpha particles and protons based on spacecraft measurements with Solar Orbiter for intervals with clearly identified slow-mode waves as an observational test of our theoretical predictions. We find that slow mode fluctuations play an important role in the driving of A/IC and FM/W instabilities which are important for the energy transfer in the solar wind.