Frequency Bands and Gaps of Magnetospheric Chorus Waves Generated by Resonant Beam/Plateau Electrons

In this paper, the modifications of the whistler dispersion characteristics are investigated which arise if resonant electrons are taken into account. The following chain of processes is emphasized: Generation of whistler waves propagating at different angles to the magnetic field and their nonlinear interaction with resonant electrons result in the appearance of modulated electron beams in the background plasma. As a result, the dispersion characteristics of waves in this new plasma might be significantly changed. By analysing the modified dispersion characteristics these changes are discussed. Supported by particle simulations and space observations, it is assumed that in the electron distribution function at the resonance velocity a plateau-like beam is formed. Because of the weakness of the beam, the term “beam/plateau population (b/p)” is used. By solving the kinetic dispersion relation of whistler waves in electron plasmas with b/p populations, the associated modifications of the whistler dispersion characteristics are presented in diagrams showing, in particular, the frequency versus propagation angle dependence of the excited waves. It is important to point out the two functions of the b/p populations. Because of the bi-directional excitation of whistler waves by temperature anisotropy, one has to distinguish between up- and downstream populations and accordingly between two b/p modes. The interaction of the beam-shifted cyclotron mode ω= Ωe + k⋅Vb (V bVb is the b/p velocity, Ωe: electron cyclotron frequency) with the whistler mode leads to enhanced damping at the ω-k point where they intersect. This is the origin of the frequency gap at half the electron cyclotron frequency (ω~Ωe/2) for quasi-parallel waves which are driven by temperature anisotropy. Furthermore, it is shown that the upstream b/p electrons alone (in the absence of temperature anisotropy) can excite (very) oblique whistler waves near the resonance cone. The governing instability results from the interaction of the beam/plateau mode ω= k⋅Vb (Vb > 0) with the whistler mode. As a further remarkable effect, another frequency gap at ω~Ωe/2 in the range of large propagation angles may arise. It happens at the triple point where both b/p modes and the whistler mode intersect. Our investigation shows that the consideration of resonant electrons in form of beam/plateau populations leads to significant modifications of the spectrum of magnetospheric whistler waves which are originally driven by temperature anisotropy. Relations to recent and former space observations are discussed.

Bone three-dimensional microstructural features of the common osteoporotic fracture sites

Osteoporosis is a common metabolic skeletal disorder characterized by decreased bone mass and deteriorated bone structure, leading to increased susceptibility to fractures. With aging population, osteoporotic fractures are of global health and socioeconomic importance. The three-dimensional microstructural information of the common osteoporosis-related fracture sites, including vertebra, femoral neck and distal radius, is a key for fully understanding osteoporosis pathogenesis and predicting the fracture risk. Low vertebral bone mineral density(BMD) is correlated with increased fracture of the spine. Vertebral BMD decreases from cervical to lumbar spine, with the lowest BMD at the third lumbar vertebra. Trabecular bone mass of the vertebrae is much lower than that of the peripheral bone. Cancellous bone of the vertebral body has a complex heterogeneous three-dimensional microstructure, with lower bone volume in the central and anterior superior regions. Trabecular bone quality is a key element to maintain the vertebral strength. The increased fragility of osteoporotic femoral neck is attributed to low cancellous bone volume and high compact porosity. Compared with age-matched controls, increased cortical porosity is observed at the femoral neck in osteoporoticfracture patients. Distal radius demonstrates spatial inhomogeneous characteristic in cortical microstructure. The medial region of the distal radius displays the highest cortical porosity compared with the lateral, anterior and posterior regions. Bone strength of the distal radius is mainly determined by cortical porosity, which deteriorates with advancing age.

In situ evidence of resonant interactions between energetic electrons and whistler waves in magnetopause reconnection

In this paper,we analyze one reconnection event observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale(MMS)mission at the earth’s magnetopause.In this event,the spacecraft crossed the reconnection current sheet from the magnetospheric side to the magnetosheath side,and whistler waves were observed on both the magnetospheric and magnetosheath sides.On the magnetospheric side,the whistler waves propagated quasi-parallel to the magnetic field and toward the X-line,while on the magnetosheath side they propagated almost anti-parallel to the magnetic field and away from the X-line.Associated with the enhancement of the whistler waves,we find that the fluxes of energetic electrons are concentrated around the pitch angle 90°when their energies are higher than the minimum energy that is necessary for the resonant interactions between the energetic electrons and whistler waves.This observation provides in situ observational evidence of resonant interactions between energetic electrons and whistler waves in the magnetic reconnection.

Effects of electron trapping on nonlinear electron-acoustic waves excited by an electron beam via particle-in-cell simulations

By performing one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, the nonlinear effects of electronacoustic(EA) waves are investigated in a multispecies plasma, whose constituents are hot electrons, cold electrons, and beam electrons with immobile neutralized positive ions. Numerical analyses have identified that EA waves with a sufficiently large amplitude tend to trap cold electrons. Because EA waves are dispersive, where the wave modes with different wavenumbers have different phase velocities, the trapping may lead to the mixing of cold electrons. The cold electrons finally get thermalized or heated. The investigation also shows that the excited EA waves give rise to a broad range of wave frequencies, which may be helpful for understanding the broadband-electrostatic-noise spectrum in the Earth’s auroral region.

Ray-tracing simulations of whistler-mode wave propagation in different rescaled dipole magnetic fields

Kinetic simulation is a powerful tool to study the excitation and propagation of whistler-mode waves in the Earth’s inner magnetosphere.This method typically applies a scaled-down dipole magnetic field to save computational time.However,it remains unknown whether whistler wave propagation in the scaled-down dipole field is consistent with that in the realistic dipole field.In this work,we develop a ray-tracing code with a scalable dipole magnetic field to address this concern.The simulation results show that parallel whistler waves at different frequencies gradually become oblique after leaving the equator and propagate in different raypaths in a dipole magnetic field.During their propagation,the higher frequency waves tend to have larger wave normal angles at the same latitude.Compared with the wave propagation in a realistic dipole field,the wave raypath and wave normal remain the same,whereas the wave amplification or attenuation is smaller because of the shorter propagation time in a scaled-down dipole field.Our study provides significant guidance for kinetic simulations of whistler-mode waves.