Observation and analysis of whistler-mode wave and electrostatic solitary waves within density depletion near magnetic reconnection X-line

Abstract

The PWI/WFC data onboard Geotail during one burst time interval when Geotail is skimming a magnetic reconnection diffusion region in the near-Earth magnetotail is carefully analyzed. Both the whistler-mode wave and the electrostatic solitary wave are found within the region with density depletion on the boundary layer near the magnetic reconnection X-line. The whistler-mode wave is electromagnetic whistler wave propagating quasi-parallel to the ambient field with a small angle between the wave vector and the ambient magnetic field. The whistler-mode wave associated with ESWs suggests that enhanced electromagnetic whistler-mode fluctuations can also be generated after the decay of the ESWs, which is different from the 2-D PIC simulation results.