Local Excitation of Whistler Mode Waves and Associated Langmuir Waves at Dayside Reconnection RegionsShow others and affiliations
2018 (English)In: Geophysical Research Letters, ISSN 0094-8276, E-ISSN 1944-8007, Vol. 45, no 17, p. 8793-8802Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In the Earth's dayside reconnection boundary layer, whistler mode waves coincide with magnetic field openings and the formation of the resultant anisotropic electrons. Depending on the energy range of anisotropic electrons, whistlers can grow at frequencies in the upper and/or lower band. Observations show that whistler mode waves modulate Langmuir wave amplitude as they propagate toward the X line. Observations of whistler mode wave phase and Langmuir waves packets, as well as coincident electron measurements, reveal that whistler mode waves can accelerate electrons via Landau resonance at locations where E(parallel to)is antiparallel to the wave propagation direction. The accelerated electrons produce localized beams, which subsequently drive the periodically modulated Langmuir waves. The close association of those two wave modes reveals the microscale electron dynamics in the exhaust region, and the proposed mechanism could potentially be applied to explain the modulation events observed in planetary magnetospheres and in the solar wind. Plain Language Summary The Sun's and Earth's magnetic field can merge and reconnect on dayside magnetopause. Using measurements from NASA's MMS spacecraft, we report that a class of electromagnetic wave, named whistler mode wave, coincides with the reconnected magnetic field lines. Besides, those whistlers are observed to modulate the electric field oscillations, known as Langmuir waves. Using high-resolution wave and particle measurements, we explain that the whistlers are locally excited when electrons from both sides of the magnetopause mix and form an unstable distribution. The modulated Langmuir waves are generated due to localized electron acceleration, which occurs when the velocity of electrons matches that of whistlers in the direction along the magnetic field. The whistler mode waves and associated Langmuir waves can be used as an additional tool to remotely sense the occurrence of magnetic reconnections.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2018. Vol. 45, no 17, p. 8793-8802
National Category
Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-236017DOI: 10.1029/2018GL078287ISI: 000445727500011Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85053369711OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-236017DiVA, id: diva2:1255695
Note
QC 20181015
2018-10-152018-10-152022-06-26Bibliographically approved