Turbulence Properties of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections in the Inner Heliosphere: Dependence on Proton Beta and Flux Rope Structure

S. W. Good, O. K. Rantala, A. -S. M. Jylhä, C. H. K. Chen, C. Möstl, E. K. J. Kilpua

Published 2023-07-19Version 1

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) have low proton beta across a broad range of heliocentric distances and a magnetic flux rope structure at large scales, making them a unique environment for studying solar wind fluctuations. Power spectra of magnetic field fluctuations in 28 ICMEs observed between 0.25 and 0.95 au by Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe have been examined. At large scales, the spectra were dominated by power contained in the flux ropes. Subtraction of the background flux rope fields reduced the mean spectral index from $-5/3$ to $-3/2$ at $kd_i \leq 10^{-3}$. Rope subtraction also revealed shorter correlation lengths in the magnetic field. The spectral index was typically near $-5/3$ and radially invariant in the inertial range regardless of rope subtraction, and steepened to values consistently below $-3$ with transition to kinetic scales. The high-frequency break point terminating the inertial range evolved almost linearly with radial distance and was closer in scale to the proton inertial length than the proton gyroscale, as expected for plasma at low proton beta. Magnetic compressibility at inertial scales did not grow with radial distance, in contrast to the solar wind generally. In ICMEs, the distinctive spectral properties at injection scales appear mostly determined by the global flux rope structure while transition-kinetic properties are more influenced by the low proton beta; the intervening inertial range appears independent of both ICME features, indicative of a system-independent scaling of the turbulence.