Searching for Universality of Turbulence in the Earth's Magnetosphere

Abstract Turbulence in space plasmas remains a fundamental challenge, and Earth's magnetosphere (MSP) offers a natural laboratory for its study. Using high‐resolution magnetic field data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale ( MMS ) mission, we extend a stochastic Markovian framework to analyze turbulence across 10 diverse magnetospheric regions, including key reconnection sites. We show that magnetic field fluctuations are well described as Markov processes in scale across the kinetic domain. Multi‐scale conditional Probability Density Functions (PDFs) reveal Markovian properties beyond the Einstein‐Markov scale. The Kramers‐Moyal coefficients display linear and quadratic dependencies, and the Fokker‐Planck equation accurately reproduces empirical conditional PDFs, with stationary solutions matching observed Kappa distributions. Scale invariance, characterized by power‐law behavior and self‐similar PDFs, holds up to s in most regions but breaks in day‐side reconnection jets. These findings support the universality of the Markovian cascade description across the magnetosphere, while identifying region‐specific deviations that reflect differing energy dissipation mechanisms.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
Published
2025-09-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025ja034020
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.15
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article

Searching for Universality of Turbulence in the Earth's Magnetosphere

Dariusz Wójcik, Wiesław M. Macek
1 citations
Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
1.15
article

Searching for Universality of Turbulence in the Earth's Magnetosphere

Dariusz Wójcik, Wiesław M. Macek
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract Turbulence in space plasmas remains a fundamental challenge, and Earth's magnetosphere (MSP) offers a natural laboratory for its study. Using high‐resolution magnetic field data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale ( MMS ) mission, we extend a stochastic Markovian framework to analyze turbulence across 10 diverse magnetospheric regions, including key reconnection sites. We show that magnetic field fluctuations are well described as Markov processes in scale across the kinetic domain. Multi‐scale conditional Probability Density Functions (PDFs) reveal Markovian properties beyond the Einstein‐Markov scale. The Kramers‐Moyal coefficients display linear and quadratic dependencies, and the Fokker‐Planck equation accurately reproduces empirical conditional PDFs, with stationary solutions matching observed Kappa distributions. Scale invariance, characterized by power‐law behavior and self‐similar PDFs, holds up to s in most regions but breaks in day‐side reconnection jets. These findings support the universality of the Markovian cascade description across the magnetosphere, while identifying region‐specific deviations that reflect differing energy dissipation mechanisms.

Journal of Geophysical Research Space PhysicsVol. 130(10)
Centrum Badań Kosmicznych (PL), Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw (PL), Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
1.15
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