Ion-Acoustic Waves Associated With Interplanetary Shocks

Ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) commonly occur near interplanetary (IP) shocks. These waves are important because of their potential role in the dissipation required for collisionless shocks to exist. We study IAW occurrence statistically at different heliocentric distances using Solar Orbiter to identify the processes responsible for IAW generation near IP shocks. We show that close to IP shocks the occurrence rate of IAW increases and peaks at the ramp. In the upstream region, the IAW activity is highly variable among different shocks and increases with decreasing distance from the Sun. We show that the observed currents near IP shocks are insufficient to reach the threshold for the current-driven instability. We argue that two-stream proton distributions and suprathermal electrons are likely sources of the waves. Ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) are fluctuations in the electric field that occur at frequencies close to the ion plasma frequency. These waves are commonly found in the solar wind and often cluster around interplanetary (IP) shock waves. In this study, we investigate and quantify how common IAWs are in the vicinity of IP shocks. Our research revealed that IAW activity is enhanced before and after most IP shock passages. Furthermore, IAWs are more likely to be observed preceding IP shocks that are closer to the Sun. We find that the occurrence rate of IAWs shows no clear dependence on the IP shock parameters. We explore the possible mechanisms that could explain the presence of these IAWs. For instance, IAW modes can be excited by electric currents if the associated drift velocity between ions and electrons is above a certain threshold. However, the currents alone are not strong enough to generate the IAWs found near IP shocks. We discuss other potential generation mechanisms, such as velocity distributions of ions and electrons deviating from thermodynamic equilibrium. The occurrence of Ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) is enhanced at interplanetary (IP) shocks, peaking at the shock ramp The occurrence rate of IAWs in the upstream region of IP shocks increases with decreasing radial distance from the Sun IAWs are observed upstream of an IP shock together with two-stream protons and an electron strahl