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Local Excitation of Whistler Mode Waves and Associated Langmuir Waves at Dayside Reconnection Regions
Author(s) -
Li Jinxing,
Bortnik Jacob,
An Xin,
Li Wen,
Russell Christopher T.,
Zhou Meng,
Berchem Jean,
Zhao Cong,
Wang Shan,
Torbert Roy B.,
Le Contel Olivier,
Ergun Robert E.,
Lindqvist PerArne,
Pollock Craig J.,
Burch James L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2018gl078287
Subject(s) - whistler , physics , electron , geophysics , magnetopause , computational physics , wave propagation , solar wind , optics , magnetic field , quantum mechanics
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 || 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.