Simulation of magnetospheric chorus wave generation with the tristan-mp pic code

Chorus waves are one of the most important and interesting wave phenomena in the Earth’s outer radiation belt. They belong to the whistler mode and have frequencies from hundreds of Hz to several kHz. They are observed as discrete series of wave packets each having varying frequency mostly in the form of rising tones, but falling tones are also found. Chorus waves play significant role in the radiation belt dynamics: being one of the most intense wave phenomena they lead to particle acceleration and precipitation via resonant wave-particle interactions.

The generation mechanisms of rising and, especially, falling tone chorus waves remain an active area of research. A common feature of most of the chorus theoretical models is that they are non-linear, which significantly reduces the opportunities to investigate corresponding processes analytically. This study shows the results of chorus wave simulation with TRISTAN-MP 2D Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code, which treats both cold and hot electrons kinetically and uses correct relativistic form of the distribution function.