Nonresonant Pitch-Angle Scattering of Low-Energy Electrons in the Solar Wind

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Ism: Cosmic Rays, Plasmas, Scattering, Sun: Solar Wind, Turbulence, Waves

Scientific paper

Dynamics of strongly supra-Alfvénic sub-MeV electrons nonresonantly interacting with a spectrum of compressive waves in the solar wind are computed using a powerful new method that allows for a realistic representation of the turbulence, including as many as 1015 turbulent modes. It is found that the electrons can be reflected very quickly and even trapped along the magnetic field by the nonresonant waves. Reflection or trapping is not limited to a narrow range of pitch angles near 90° but, in quiet solar wind at 1 AU, may involve a large fraction of the electrons with pitch angles in the range 40°-140°. Electron reflection through tens of degrees of pitch angle occurs on timescales of the order of 1 s. The rapidity and extent of the electron pitch-angle variation through 90°, rather than the lack of a mechanism for pitch-angle scattering through 90°, may explain why the observed pitch-angle distributions of 1 keV to 1 MeV electrons are often depleted around 90° in the solar wind at 1 AU.

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