Electron trapping in shear Alfvén waves that power the aurora

Watt, C. E. J. and Rankin, R. (2009) Electron trapping in shear Alfvén waves that power the aurora. Physical Review Letters, 102. 045002. ISSN 0031-9007 doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.045002

Abstract/Summary

Results from 1D Vlasov drift-kinetic plasma simulations reveal how and where auroral electrons are accelerated along Earth’s geomagnetic field. In the warm plasma sheet, electrons become trapped in shear Alfven waves, preventing immediate wave damping. As waves move to regions with larger vTe=vA, their parallel electric field decreases, and the trapped electrons escape their influence. The resulting electron distribution functions compare favorably with in situ observations, demonstrating for the first time a self-consistent link between Alfven waves and electrons that form aurora.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/32818
Identification Number/DOI	10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.045002
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	American Physical Society
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