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Observations of the Beam‐Driven Whistler Mode Waves in the Magnetic Reconnection Region at the Dayside Magnetopause
Author(s) -
Zhao S. Q.,
Xiao C. J.,
Liu Terry Z.,
Chen Huayue,
Zhang H.,
Shi M. J.,
Teng Shangchun,
Zhang H. S.,
Wang X. G.,
Pu Z. Y.,
Liu M. Z.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2020ja028525
Subject(s) - whistler , magnetopause , magnetosheath , physics , pitch angle , magnetic reconnection , electron , scattering , computational physics , atomic physics , geophysics , plasma , magnetosphere , optics , quantum mechanics
We report observations of the whistler mode waves in the magnetic reconnection region at the dayside magnetopause using the magnetospheric multiscale (MMS) mission on January 11, 2016. In this event, whistlers mostly occur on the magnetospheric side of the reconnection central plane and are closely related to counter‐streaming electron beams in the medium energy range (200–300 eV). These counter‐streaming electron beams can be attributed to the accelerated magnetosheath electrons by the reconnection. Through quantitatively testing the Landau resonance condition and solving the kinetic dispersion relations, we present the evidence for whistler excitation by electron beams in the medium energy range. Additionally, the whistlers are observed simultaneously with the pitch‐angle scattering of electrons in the high‐energy range (300–3,000 eV). The calculation results show that this scattering is likely to occur through electron cyclotron wave‐particle interactions, which can isotropize electrons and exchange energy between plasmas and waves.