Nonresonant scattering of energetic electrons by electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves: spacecraft observations and theoretical framework

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model and uses simulations to show that short EMIC wave packets can cause nonresonant scattering of energetic electrons, explaining observed electron precipitation at energies below resonance.

Contribution

It generalizes the quasi-linear diffusion model to include nonresonant scattering by wave packets, supported by simulations and spacecraft data analysis.

Findings

Short EMIC wave packets extend scattering below resonance energy.

Simulations confirm that wave packets cause significant nonresonant electron scattering.

Theoretical predictions align with spacecraft observations of electron fluxes.

Abstract

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves lead to rapid scattering of relativistic electrons in Earth's radiation belts, due to their large amplitudes relative to other waves that interact with electrons of this energy range. A central feature of electron precipitation driven by EMIC waves is deeply elusive. That is, moderate precipitating fluxes at energies below the minimum resonance energy of EMIC waves occur concurrently with strong precipitating fluxes at resonance energies in low-altitude spacecraft observations. This paper expands on a previously reported solution to this problem: nonresonant scattering due to wave packets. The quasi-linear diffusion model is generalized to incorporate nonresonant scattering by a generic wave shape. The diffusion rate decays exponentially away from the resonance, where shorter packets lower decay rates and thus widen the energy range of significant scattering. Using realistic EMIC wave packets from $\delta f$ particle-in-cell simulations, test particle simulations are performed to demonstrate that intense, short packets extend the energy of significant scattering well below the minimum resonance energy, consistent with our theoretical prediction. Finally, the calculated precipitating-to-trapped flux ratio of relativistic electrons is compared to ELFIN observations, and the wave power spectra is inferred based on the measured flux ratio. We demonstrate that even with a narrow wave spectrum, short EMIC wave packets can provide moderately intense precipitating fluxes well below the minimum resonance energy.