Near-relativistic electron acceleration by Landau trapping in time domain structures

F.S. Mozer (1) , A. Artemyev (2) , O.V. Agapitov (1, 3) , D. Mourenas (4) , I. Vasko (2)

1 SSL - Space Sciences Laboratory [Berkeley]
2 IKI - Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
3 Faculty of Physics [Kyiv]
4 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace

Data from the Van Allen Probes have provided the first extensive evidence of nonlinear (as opposed to quasi-linear) wave-particle interactions in space with the associated rapid (less than a bounce period) electron acceleration to hundreds of keV by Landau resonance in the parallel electric field of time domain structures (TDSs) traveling at high speeds (~20,000 km/s). This observational evidence is supported by simulations and discussion of the source and spatial extent of the fast TDS. This result indicates the possibility that the electrostatic fields in TDS may generate the electron seed population for cyclotron resonance interaction with chorus waves to make higher-energy electrons.

Domains: Space Physics [physics.space-ph]; Astrophysics [astro-ph]

F.S. Mozer, A. Artemyev, O.V. Agapitov, D. Mourenas, I. Vasko. Near-relativistic electron acceleration by Landau trapping in time domain structures. Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, 43 (2), pp.508-514 ⟨10.1002/2015GL067316⟩. ⟨insu-01372261⟩