Dispersive Alfvén waves in a plasma with anisotropic superthermal particles

Abstract

The dispersion of dispersive Alfvén wave in a low β plasma with anisotropic superthermal particles modeled by a bi-nonextensive distribution is derived from a kinetic way. The effect of anisotropic temperature on inertial Alfvén wave is so small that it is negligible. However, it will play an important role on the property of kinetic Alfvén wave (KAW). The numerical results reveal that the presence of superthermal electrons in the small wavenumber limit will lead the damping rate of the KAW bigger than the one with Maxwellian distribution. Whereas, the damping rate of KAW in the large wavenumber limit will decrease with the presence of superthermal electrons. When the effect of electron anisotropic temperature overwhelms the effect of finite ion gyroradius in the small wavenumber regime, the damping rate of KAW grows with the presence of electron temperature anisotropy. On the other hand, when the effects of finite ion gyroradius play a dominant role in the large wavenumber regime, the damping rate of KAW increases with the effective perpendicular and parallel electron temperatures.