Abstract

Using measurements from the Wind spacecraft at 1 AU, the heating of protons in the solar wind at locations of intense velocity shear is examined. The 4321 sites of intense shear in fast coronal hole origin plasma are analyzed. The proton temperature, the proton specific entropy, and the proton number density at the locations of the shears are compared with the same quantities in the plasmas adjacent to the shears. A very slight but statistically significant enhancement of the proton temperature is seen at the sites of the shears, but it is accompanied by a larger enhancement of the proton number density at the sites of the shears. Consequently, there is no enhancement of the proton specific entropy at the shear sites, indicating no production of entropy; hence, no evidence for plasma heating is found at the sites of the velocity shears. Since the shearing velocities have appreciable Mach numbers, the authors suggest that there can be a slight adiabatic compression of the plasma at the shear zones.