Altitude Dependent Auroral Ion Diffusion Coefficients

Physics – Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

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[7867] Space Plasma Physics / Wave/Particle Interactions

Scientific paper

Simultaneous upgoing auroral H+ and O+ ion beams generate ion acoustic waves which have both parallel and oblique wave vectors with respect to the ambient magnetic field. A parallel mode is investigated with phase velocity UO + CO in the direction of beam propagation, where UO is the oxygen beam velocity and CO is the oxygen ion sound speed. Due to the mass difference, this mode preferentially resonates with the oxygen beam through the n = 1 cyclotron resonance, causing O+ ions to diffuse in a direction that is primarily perpendicular to the background magnetic field. The Landau resonance (n = 0) is very narrow in parallel velocity and does not interact with either ion beam. In one case study the parallel acoustic mode begins to resonate with O+ ions within the auroral acceleration region and this resonant region in velocity space sweeps through the entire O+ beam as it moves into weaker magnetic field regions. The O+ quasilinear diffusion coefficients are examined during this process. Perpendicular diffusion becomes significant when the parallel resonant velocity is close to the parallel group velocity of the waves. This selects regions of velocity space where perpendicular diffusion is maximum which occurs at the leading edge of the resonant region as it sweeps through the O+ beam. In k - space these resonant velocities correspond to the regions of peak growth rate. The relevance of this work to the selective energization of heavy auroral ion beams will be discussed.

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