Hybrid Simulations of Energy Cascade among Fast Magnetosonic Waves in a Cold Plasma

We present hybrid simulations of the energy cascade among fast waves in the vicinity of the proton inertial scale. The plasma beta is set to low values typical of the solar corona. The cascade proceeds in the wavenumber space mostly in the direction across the mean magnetic field. The highly oblique fast waves can be efficiently dissipated on the protons by several mechanisms. The resulting proton heating is preferentially perpendicular to the magnetic field. If the wave intensity is constrained by the observed density spectra in the corona, the heating is fast enough to generate the solar wind.