Self‐consistent wave‐particle interactions in dispersive scale long‐period field‐line‐resonances

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Rankin, Robert
  • Samson, John C.
  • Watt, Clare E. J.

• Using 1D Vlasov drift-kinetic computer simulations, it is shown that electron trapping in long period standing shear Alfvén waves (SAWs) provides an efficient energy sink for wave energy that is much more effective than Landau damping. It is also suggested that the plasma environment of low altitude auroral-zone geomagnetic field lines is more suited to electron acceleration by inertial or kinetic scale Alfvén waves. This is due to the self-consistent response of the electron distribution function to SAWs, which must accommodate the low altitude large-scale current system in standing waves. We characterize these effects in terms of the relative magnitude of the wave phase and electron thermal velocities. While particle trapping is shown to be significant across a wide range of plasma temperatures and wave frequencies, we find that electron beam formation in long period waves is more effective in relatively cold plasma.

• Date created

  2007

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Arc
  • Plasma Sheet
  • Magnetosphere
  • Alfven Waves
  • Electron Acceleration

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R33R0Q77K

• License

  © 2007 American Geophysical Union. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.