Advances in Earth Science ›› 2011, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (5): 493-498. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2011.05.0493

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Latest Progress on Propagation Characteristics of Superluminous Waves and their Gyroresonance with Energetic Particles

Xiao Fuliang, He Zhaoguo, Chen Liangxu, He Yihua, Yang Chang   

  1. School of Physics and Electronic Sciences, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha410004, China
  • Received:2010-05-05 Revised:2011-03-03 Online:2011-05-10 Published:2011-05-10

Xiao Fuliang, He Zhaoguo, Chen Liangxu, He Yihua, Yang Chang. Latest Progress on Propagation Characteristics of Superluminous Waves and their Gyroresonance with Energetic Particles[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2011, 26(5): 493-498.

Superluminous (the phase speed higher than the speed of light) electromagnetic waves are widely present in the space plasma with high frequencies. Here, we briefly introduce their generation mechanism—Cyclotron Maser Instability (CMI). We present discussion on the propagating characteristics of superluminous waves in the Earth′s magnetosphere. During high geomagnetic activity, since the plasmapause position moves inward closer to the Earth, the superluminous waves can propagate from their source cavity downward and even through the equatorial plane due to no reflection. We focus on pitch angle scattering and stochastic acceleration of energetic electrons induced by superluminous waves in the radiation belts. Current works show that energy diffusion resulting from such waves is generally higher than pitch angle scattering. Under appropriate conditions, superluminous waves may contribute to both the stochastic acceleration of electrons with larger pitch angle and the loss process of electrons with smaller pitch angles. These recent progresses provide further understanding of the instability and propagation of superluminous waves, as well as the dynamics of highly energetic electrons in the Earth′s radiation belts.

No related articles found!
Viewed
Full text


Abstract