Test particle simulations of resonant interactions between energetic electrons and discrete, multi-frequency artificial whistler waves in the plasmasphere  

作　　者：常珊珊 倪彬彬 赵正予 顾旭东 周晨 

机构地区：[1]Department of Space Physics, School of Electronic Information, Wuhan University

出　　处：《Chinese Physics B》2014年第8期678-686,共9页中国物理B（英文版）

基　　金：Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41204120 and 41304130);the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.2042014kf0251)

摘　　要：Modulated high frequency （HF） heating of the ionosphere provides a feasible means of artificially generating ex- tremely low frequency （ELF）/very low frequency （VLF） whistler waves, which can leak into the inner magnetosphere and contribute to resonant interactions with high energy electrons. Combining the ray tracing method and test particle simulations, we evaluate the effects of energetic electron resonant scattering driven by the discrete, multi-frequency arti- ficially generated ELF/VLF waves. The simulation results indicate a stochastic behavior of electrons and a linear profile of pitch angle and kinetic energy variations averaged over all test electrons. These features are similar to those associated with single-frequency waves. The computed local diffusion coefficients show that, although the momentum diffusion of relativistic electrons due to artificial ELF/VLF whistlers with a nominal amplitude of ~ 1 pT is minor, the pitch angle scattering can be notably efficient at low pitch angles near the loss cone, which supports the feasibility of artificial triggering of multi-frequency ELF/VLF whistler waves for the removal of high energy electrons from the magnetosphere. We also investigate the dependences of diffusion coefficients on the frequency interval （△f） of the discrete, multi-frequency waves. We find that there is a threshold value of Af for which the net diffusion coefficient of multi-frequency whistlers is inversely proportional to △f （proportional to the frequency components Nw） when △f is below the threshold value but it remains unchanged with increasing Af when △f is larger than the threshold value. This is explained as being due to the fact that the resonant scattering effect of broadband waves is the sum of the effects of each frequency in the ＇effective frequency band＇. Our results suggest that the modulation frequency of HF heating of the ionosphere can be appropriately selected with reasonable frequency intervals so that better performance of controlled preciModulated high frequency （HF） heating of the ionosphere provides a feasible means of artificially generating ex- tremely low frequency （ELF）/very low frequency （VLF） whistler waves, which can leak into the inner magnetosphere and contribute to resonant interactions with high energy electrons. Combining the ray tracing method and test particle simulations, we evaluate the effects of energetic electron resonant scattering driven by the discrete, multi-frequency arti- ficially generated ELF/VLF waves. The simulation results indicate a stochastic behavior of electrons and a linear profile of pitch angle and kinetic energy variations averaged over all test electrons. These features are similar to those associated with single-frequency waves. The computed local diffusion coefficients show that, although the momentum diffusion of relativistic electrons due to artificial ELF/VLF whistlers with a nominal amplitude of ~ 1 pT is minor, the pitch angle scattering can be notably efficient at low pitch angles near the loss cone, which supports the feasibility of artificial triggering of multi-frequency ELF/VLF whistler waves for the removal of high energy electrons from the magnetosphere. We also investigate the dependences of diffusion coefficients on the frequency interval （△f） of the discrete, multi-frequency waves. We find that there is a threshold value of Af for which the net diffusion coefficient of multi-frequency whistlers is inversely proportional to △f （proportional to the frequency components Nw） when △f is below the threshold value but it remains unchanged with increasing Af when △f is larger than the threshold value. This is explained as being due to the fact that the resonant scattering effect of broadband waves is the sum of the effects of each frequency in the ＇effective frequency band＇. Our results suggest that the modulation frequency of HF heating of the ionosphere can be appropriately selected with reasonable frequency intervals so that better performance of controlled preci

关 键 词：wave-particle interactions test particle simulations discrete multi-frequency whistler waves ionospheric modification 

分 类 号：O53[理学—等离子体物理]