Effect of current sheets on the power spectrum of the solar wind magnetic field using a cell model

A puzzling observation of solar wind MHD turbulence is the often seen Kolmogorov scaling of k-5/3, even though the solar wind MHD turbulence is dominated by Alfvénic fluctuations. Recently Li et al. (2011) proposed that the presence of current sheets may be the cause of the Kolmogorov scaling. Here, using a cell model of the solar wind we examine the effect of current sheets on the power spectrum of the solar wind magnetic field. We model the solar wind as multiple cells separated by current sheets. We prescribe the spectra of turbulent magnetic field in individual cells as IK-like and examine the spectra along trajectories that cross multiple boundaries. We find that these spectra become softer and are consistent with the Kolmogorov-scaling. Our finding supports our recent proposal of Li et al. (2011).