Unusual high frequency EMIC waves: Detailed analysis of EMIC wave excitation and energy coupling between EMIC and magnetosonic waves

Abstract

Abstract A recent event study suggested a coupling process whereby suprathermal protons (10–100 eV), as a result of perpendicular heating by pre-existing magnetosonic waves, can excite electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves with frequency near the local proton cyclotron frequency ( f ∼ 0.95 f cp ). The present study tests this coupling process. First, one-dimensional hybrid (kinetic ions/massless fluid electrons) simulations of parallel-propagating EMIC waves initialized with the plasma conditions derived from the event prove that high frequency EMIC waves can be generated by anisotropic suprathermal protons instead of more energetic (10s of keV) ring current protons. Calculation of the quasilinear pitch-angle diffusion coefficient for electrons using the simulated waves suggests that these high frequency EMIC waves outside the plasmasphere can play a role in the pitch-angle scattering of ∼ MeV electrons due to the large wavenumber of the excited EMIC waves. Second, the role of the pre-existing magnetosonic waves in the suprathermal proton heating is examined using quasilinear diffusion theory and simple test particle calculation. It is found that the quasilinear diffusion becomes ineffective in energies relevant to the suprathermal protons, indicating that the low-energy ( 10 eV) protons cannot be efficiently energized to the observed level through multi-harmonic cyclotron resonances with the magnetosonic waves observed. Rather, some kind of non-resonant process may have been at play, if the magnetosonic waves were actually involved in the heating. This result suggests that more quantitative understanding of the suggested energy coupling process through magnetosonic waves is needed.