Study of Wave‐Particle Interactions for Whistler Mode Waves at Oblique Angles by Utilizing the Gyroaveraging Method

Abstract

AbstractWe investigate the properties of whistler mode wave‐particle interactions at oblique wave normal angles to the background magnetic field. We find that electromagnetic energy of waves at frequencies below half the electron cyclotron frequency can flow nearly parallel to the ambient magnetic field. We thereby confirm that the gyroaveraging method, which averages the cyclotron motion to the gyrocenter and reduces the simulation from two‐dimensional to one‐dimensional, is valid for oblique wave‐particle interaction. Multiple resonances appear for oblique propagation but not for parallel propagation. We calculate the possible range of resonances with the first‐order resonance condition as a function of electron kinetic energy and equatorial pitch angle. To reveal the physical process and the efficiency of electron acceleration by multiple resonances, we assume a simple uniform wave model with constant amplitude and frequency in space and time. We perform test particle simulations with electrons starting at specific equatorial pitch angles and kinetic energies. The simulation results show that multiple resonances contribute to acceleration and pitch angle scattering of energetic electrons. Especially, we find that electrons with energies of a few hundred keV can be accelerated efficiently to a few MeV through the n = 0 Landau resonance.