Electromagnetic ion-cyclotron instability driven by combined loss-cone and temperature anisotropy distribution of suprathermal ions

Abstract

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves, particularly their generation and excitation mechanisms, have been a subject of wide interest because of their potential importance in ion acceleration and heating. In this work, the parameter-dependence of EMIC instabilities is investigated with a combined loss-cone and temperature anisotropy distribution for suprathermal ions. The calculation of the linear growth rate of EMIC waves with an arbitrary propagation angle is presented. The results show that the growth rates of EMIC waves propagating quasi-perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field increase as the loss-cone parameter α increases, whereas the growth rates of EMIC waves propagating quasi-parallel to the ambient magnetic field increase as the temperature anisotropy parameter A T increases. This indicates that the free energies associated with the loss-cone and temperature anisotropic distributions are primarily responsible for the excitation of the quasi-perpendicular and parallel propagating EMIC waves, respectively, and provides us with a more comprehensive understanding of excitation and generation mechanisms for EMIC waves in space plasmas.