Experimental study on chorus emission in an artificial magnetosphere

Abstract

Wave particle interaction plays an important role in geospace and space weather phenomena. Whistler mode chorus emissions, characterized by non-linear growth and frequency chirping, are common in planetary magnetospheres. They are regarded as the origin of relativistic acceleration of particles in the radiation belts and pulsating aurora. Intensive theoretical investigations and spacecraft observations have revealed several important features of chorus emissions. However, there is a need to conduct high-resolution and reproducible controlled laboratory experiments to deepen the understanding of space weather. Here, we present the spontaneous excitation of chirping whistler waves in hot-electron high-β plasma (β is the ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic pressure) in an “artificial magnetosphere”, a levitated dipole experiment. These experiments suggest that the generation and nonlinear growth of coherent chorus emissions are ubiquitous in dipole magnetic configuration. We anticipate that these experiments will accelerate the laboratory investigation of space weather phenomena.