Nonlinear Electrostatic Steepening of Whistler Waves: The Guiding Factors and Dynamics in Inhomogeneous Systems

Journal Article · Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076957· OSTI ID:1463563

Agapitov, O.  ^[1]; Drake, J. F.  ^[2]; Vasko, I.  ^[3]; Mozer, F. S.  ^[3]; Artemyev, A.  ^[4]; Krasnoselskikh, V.  ^[5]; Angelopoulos, V. ^[4]; Wygant, J.  ^[6]; Reeves, Geoffrey D.  ^[7]

---

1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Space Sciences Lab.; National Taras Shevchenko Univ. of Kyiv, Kyiv (Ukraine). Astronomy and Space Physics Dept.
2. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics, the Inst. for Physical Science and Technology and the Joint Space Inst.
3. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Space Sciences Lab.
4. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Inst. of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
5. LPC2E/CNRS, Orleans (France)
6. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). School of Physics and Astronomy
7. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Whistler mode chorus waves are particularly important in outer radiation belt dynamics due to their key role in controlling the acceleration and scattering of electrons over a very wide energy range. The efficiency of wave-particle resonant interactions is defined by whistler wave properties which have been described by the approximation of plane linear waves propagating through the cold plasma of the inner magnetosphere. However, recent observations of extremely high-amplitude whistlers suggest the importance of nonlinear wave-particle interactions for the dynamics of the outer radiation belt. Oblique chorus waves observed in the inner magnetosphere often exhibit drastically nonsinusoidal (with significant power in the higher harmonics) waveforms of the parallel electric field, presumably due to the feedback from hot resonant electrons. We have considered the nature and properties of such nonlinear whistler waves observed by the Van Allen Probes and Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions define during Substorms in the inner magnetosphere, and we show that the significant enhancement of the wave electrostatic component can result from whistler wave coupling with the beam-driven electrostatic mode through the resonant interaction with hot electron beams. Being modulated by a whistler wave, the electron beam generates a driven electrostatic mode significantly enhancing the parallel electric field of the initial whistler wave. Finally, we confirm this mechanism using a self-consistent particle-in-cell simulation. The nonlinear electrostatic component manifests properties of the beam-driven electron acoustic mode and can be responsible for effective electron acceleration in the inhomogeneous magnetic field.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396; AGS1202330; AGS1219369; NNX16AF85G; NAS5‐02099; 922613
• OSTI ID: 1463563
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-18-25085
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 5; ISSN 0094-8276
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Heliospheric and Magnetospheric Physics
nonlinear wave‐particle interactions
whistler waves
electron acceleration
wave steepening
induced scattering
electron acoustic waves