Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm52b..06w&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM52B-06
Physics
[2716] Magnetospheric Physics / Energetic Particles: Precipitating
Scientific paper
We examine the acceleration of electrons due to shear Alfvén waves in the Earth’s magnetosphere. Observations of Alfvénic electrons indicate enhanced field-aligned fluxes at all energies below a well-defined maximum, although this maximum energy changes from event to event. These observations are often at the poleward edge of the aurora oval, on field-lines which map to the plasma sheet boundary layer. We use in-situ particle measurements and a self-consistent simulation code to characterize the acceleration process and help interpret the signatures of Alfvénic electron acceleration in different regions of the magnetosphere. We demonstrate the differences between accelerated electrons and signatures of the field-aligned current due to the shear Alfvén wave. We also show how, in the warm plasma of the plasma sheet boundary layer, the energy of accelerated electrons varies with the perpendicular scale length of the wave. Surprisingly, longer perpendicular wavelengths result in higher energy electrons. We discuss the possible auroral signatures resulting from precipitating electrons in Alfven waves.
Rankin Robert
Watt C. E.
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