Particle-in-cell simulations of fast magnetosonic waves on a drift shell surface in the dipole magnetic field
Abstract
Fast magnetosonic waves (MSWs) are enhanced waves at frequencies close to the proton cyclotron frequency and its harmonics (up to the lower hybrid frequency) observed near the geomagnetic equator in the inner magnetosphere. Recent studies show that MSWs preferentially propagate in the azimuthal direction, indicating that convective wave growth maximizes when propagating in that direction. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of parallel-propagating waves (i.e., EMIC wave and chorus) in dipole geometry have been performed on a meridional plane (spatial variations along the field line and in the radial direction), but the strong directionality in MSW propagation requires the inclusion of the azimuthal direction. The present paper devises a two-dimensional simulation domain on a surface made by drifting and bouncing particles (i.e., drift shell) assuming a dipole background magnetic field, which is orthogonal to the conventional meridional plane. PIC simulations of self-consistent excitation and propagation of MSWs are carried out in that domain in an attempt to understand the equatorial confinement of MSWs, their field-aligned wave structure, and the latitudinal dependence of the MSW polarization properties.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMSM51F3251B
- Keywords:
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- 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions;
- MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS;
- 2772 Plasma waves and instabilities;
- MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS;
- 7867 Wave/particle interactions;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7984 Space radiation environment;
- SPACE WEATHER