Giant pulsations as modes of a transverse Alfvénic resonator on the plasmapause

The paper assumes that the giant pulsations are oscillations trapped within a resonator resulting from finite plasma pressure on the outer edge of the plasmapause. This resonator is bounded, across the L-shells, by two turning points allowing the wave energy to be channeled azimuthally. This assumption can explain the basic properties of the giant pulsations: strong localization across magnetic shells, poloidal polarization, presence of a significant compressional component in the Pg magnetic field, the fact that their frequency does not depend on the radial coordinate. The wave field structure both across the L-shells and along the field lines is studied. In order to explain the amplitude modulation it is sufficient to suppose that the resonator is excited by some non-stationary process. Generation by a moving source comprised of substorm-injected particles is considered.