Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Magnetic switchbacks are large-amplitude fluctuations in the interplanetary magnetic field, and appear frequently in the near-Sun solar wind explored recently by Parker Solar Probe: these new observations have prompted many new studies into their properties and origins. Here, we first review what is known about how switchbacks evolve as they travel away from the Sun: both in terms of their expansion-driven growth and their decay due to various processes like turbulence, reconnection, dispersion, parametric instability, and interaction with interplanetary shocks. We then review the current state of knowledge on how switchbacks impact the physics of the solar wind as a whole: in terms of the turbulent cascade, acceleration and heating of the wind, modification of the open solar flux and scattering of energetic particles. Finally, we suggest future studies to further our understanding of switchback evolution and impacts on the heliosphere.
Source: Space Science Reviews
Authors: Alfred Mallet, Chen Shi, Anna Tenerani, Oleksiy Agapitov, Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, Samuel Badman, Nina Bizien, Trevor Bowen, Mihir I. Desai, J. F. Drake, Timothy Horbury, Andrea Larosa, Maria S. Madjarska, Francesco Malara, Lorenzo Matteini, Mathew Owens, Victor Réville, Nikos Sioulas, Shirsh Lata Soni, Jonathan Squire, Gabriel Ho Hin Suen, Marc Swisdak, Marco Velli, Jaye Verniero, Nicholas Watkins, Luca Sorriso-Valvo
Institutions: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, Auburn University, The University of Texas at Austin, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, University of Michigan, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Université d'Orléans, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace, Southwest Research Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, Imperial College London, Institute for the Science and Technology of Plasmas, National Research Council, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Space Research and Technology Institute, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, University of Calabria, University of Reading, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, University of Otago, University College London, Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, University of Warwick, London School of Economics and Political Science, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,290
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Research Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Research Foundation of Korea, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Vetenskapsrådet, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea, Science and Technology Facilities Council, International Space Science Institute
Awards: G1630851485, G190531733, G195956109, G1991198527, Evolution of turbulence in the expanding solar wind, CAREER: Kinetic Theory of Irreversible Processes, G2430358286, G3145826106, G316112380, G4200293305, G4409265316, G4726068391, G4739152559, Heliospheric and Planetary Research 2020-2023, G5328980902, G5966779717, G6177643802, G622033902, G6671297155, G7925314546, G793909406, G8007266405, G819837526, G8468340330, Plasmaheizung kleinskaliger Plasmabögen in der Sonnenatmosphäre, G8699054497, G9000121141
OpenAlex ID: W7170143848