Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfven waves.

ABSTRACT: While the aurora has attracted attention for millennia, important questions remain unanswered. Foremost is how auroral electrons are accelerated before colliding with the ionosphere and producing auroral light. Powerful Alfvén waves are often found traveling Earthward above auroras with sufficient energy to generate auroras, but there has been no direct measurement of the processes by which Alfvén waves transfer their energy to auroral electrons. Here, we show laboratory measurements of the resonant transfer of energy from Alfvén waves to electrons under conditions relevant to the auroral zone. Experiments are performed by launching Alfvén waves and simultaneously recording the electron velocity distribution. Numerical simulations and analytical theory support that the measured energy tran

SUBMITTER: Schroeder JWR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8184961 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature