Spatial structure and stability of coupled Alfvén and drift compressional modes in non-uniform magnetosphere: Gyrokinetic treatment

Abstract

The spatial structure and stability properties of the coupled Alfvén and drift compressional modes in a space plasma are studied in a gyrokinetic framework in a model taking into account field-line curvature and plasma and magnetic field inhomogeneity across the magnetic shells. The perturbation is found to be localized in two transparent regions, the Alfvén and drift compressional transparent regions, where the wave vector radial component squared is positive. Both regions are bounded by the resonance and cut-off surfaces, where the wave vector radial component turns into infinity and zero, respectively. An existence of the drift compressional resonance is one of the most important results of this work. It is argued that on the surface of this resonance the longitudinal and azimuthal components of the wave's magnetic field have a pole and logarithmic singularities, respectively. The instability conditions and expressions for the growth rate of the coupled modes have been obtained. In the Alfvénic transparent region, an instability occurs in the presence of the negative plasma temperature gradient. This instability does not lead to a non-stationary wave behavior: all the energy gained from the resonance particles was finally absorbed owing to any dissipation process. In a drift compressional transparent region, a necessary condition for the instability is the growth of the temperature with the radial coordinate. The growth rate is almost independent of the radial coordinate, which means that the wave energy gained from the particles cannot disappear. It will lead to an ever increasing wave amplitude, and no stationary picture for the unstable drift compressional mode is possible.