Effects of alpha particles on the angular momentum loss from the Sun.pdfVIP

c Astronomy Astrophysics manuscript no. aa4624 ESO 2008 February 5, 2008 Effects of alpha particles on the angular momentum loss from the Sun 6 Bo Li and Xing Li 0 0 2 Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, SY23 3BZ UK n u Received / Accepted J 7 ABSTRACT 1 Aims. The classic Weber-Davis model of the solar wind is reconsidered by incorporating alpha particles and by allowing the solar wind to flow v out of the equatorial plane in an axisymmetrical configuration. 7 Methods. In the ion momentum equations of the solar wind, the ion gyro-frequency is many orders of magnitude higher than any other 4 frequency. This requires that the difference between proton and alpha velocity vectors be aligned with the background magnetic field. With the 1 aid of this alignment condition, the governing equations of the multi-fluid solar wind are derived from the standard transport equations. The 6 ◦ 0 governing equations are numerically solved along a prescribed meridional magnetic field line located at colatitude 70 at 1AU and a steady 6 state fast solar wind solution is found. 0 Results. A general analysis concludes, in agreement with the Weber-Davis model, that the magnetic field helps the coronal plasma to achieve / an effective corotation out to the Alfv´enic radius, where the poloidal Alfv´enic Mach number MT equals unity (MT is defined by equa