  In-situ measurements by several spacecraft have revealed that the solar wind
is frequently perturbed by transient structures (magnetic folds, jets, waves,
flux-ropes) that propagate rapidly away from the Sun over large distances.
Parker Solar Probe has detected frequent rotations of the magnetic field vector
at small heliocentric distances, accompanied by surprisingly large solar wind
rotation rates. The physical origin of such magnetic field bends, the
conditions for their survival across the interplanetary space, and their
relation to solar wind rotation are yet to be clearly understood. We traced
measured solar wind flows from the spacecraft position down to the surface of
the Sun to identify their potential source regions and used a global MHD model
of the corona and solar wind to relate them to the rotational state of the low
solar corona. We identified regions of the solar corona for which solar wind
speed and rotational shear are important and long-lived, that can be favourable
to the development of magnetic deflections and to their propagation across
extended heights in the solar wind. We show that coronal rotation is highly
structured and that enhanced flow shear develops near the boundaries between
coronal holes and streamers, around and above pseudo-streamers, even when such
boundaries are aligned with the direction of solar rotation. A large fraction
of the switchbacks identified by PSP map back to these regions, both in terms
of instantaneous magnetic field connectivity and of the trajectories of wind
streams that reach the spacecraft. These regions of strong shears are likely to
leave an imprint on the solar wind over large distances and to increase the
transverse speed variability in the slow solar wind. The simulations and
connectivity analysis suggest they can be a source of the switchbacks and
spikes observed by Parker Solar Probe.
