Y. C. Jiang, Z. Z. Chen, J. Yu, J. Wang, X. M. Liu, J. Cui, J. B. Cao, A. J. Ren, X. L. Ding
{"title":"Low-Frequency Whistler Waves Excited by Electron Butterfly Distributions in Turbulent Reconnection Outflow","authors":"Y. C. Jiang, Z. Z. Chen, J. Yu, J. Wang, X. M. Liu, J. Cui, J. B. Cao, A. J. Ren, X. L. Ding","doi":"10.1029/2024JA033250","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Whistler waves, leading to electron scattering and energy transport, are frequently observed in magnetic reconnection. High-energy electrons produced by magnetic reconnection are expected to excite low-frequency whistler waves. However, the study on low-frequency whistler waves in magnetic reconnection is still quite scarce. Utilizing high-resolution data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, we provide observations of low-frequency whistler waves in a turbulent reconnection outflow. The quasi-antiparallel propagating whistler waves have power peaked at ∼0.1 <span></span><math>\n <semantics>\n <mrow>\n <msub>\n <mi>f</mi>\n <mrow>\n <mi>c</mi>\n <mi>e</mi>\n </mrow>\n </msub>\n </mrow>\n <annotation> ${f}_{ce}$</annotation>\n </semantics></math> and wave number of <span></span><math>\n <semantics>\n <mrow>\n <mi>k</mi>\n <msub>\n <mi>d</mi>\n <mi>e</mi>\n </msub>\n </mrow>\n <annotation> $k{d}_{e}$</annotation>\n </semantics></math> ∼0.43 in the plasma rest frame. It can be excited through the cyclotron resonance by the electron butterfly distributions, which can be interpreted by a model comprising the addition of electron beams hosting perpendicular anisotropy to electron isotropy distributions. The energy of resonant electrons is calculated as 1.06∼4.16 keV, the parts corresponding to lower frequency (<∼0.1<span></span><math>\n <semantics>\n <mrow>\n <msub>\n <mi>f</mi>\n <mrow>\n <mi>c</mi>\n <mi>e</mi>\n </mrow>\n </msub>\n </mrow>\n <annotation> ${f}_{ce}$</annotation>\n </semantics></math>) falling into suprathermal energy range. Our study can promote the understanding of generation of whistler waves in magnetic reconnection.</p>","PeriodicalId":15894,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics","volume":"129 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JA033250","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Whistler waves, leading to electron scattering and energy transport, are frequently observed in magnetic reconnection. High-energy electrons produced by magnetic reconnection are expected to excite low-frequency whistler waves. However, the study on low-frequency whistler waves in magnetic reconnection is still quite scarce. Utilizing high-resolution data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, we provide observations of low-frequency whistler waves in a turbulent reconnection outflow. The quasi-antiparallel propagating whistler waves have power peaked at ∼0.1 and wave number of ∼0.43 in the plasma rest frame. It can be excited through the cyclotron resonance by the electron butterfly distributions, which can be interpreted by a model comprising the addition of electron beams hosting perpendicular anisotropy to electron isotropy distributions. The energy of resonant electrons is calculated as 1.06∼4.16 keV, the parts corresponding to lower frequency (<∼0.1) falling into suprathermal energy range. Our study can promote the understanding of generation of whistler waves in magnetic reconnection.