Data-driven simulation of rapid flux enhancement of energetic electrons
with an upper-band whistler burst
Abstract
The temporal variation of the energetic electron flux distribution
caused by whistler mode chorus waves through the cyclotron resonant
interaction provides crucial information on how electrons are
accelerated in the Earth’s inner magnetosphere. This study employing a
data-driven test-particle simulation demonstrates that the rapid
deformation of energetic electron distribution observed by the Arase
satellite is not simply explained by a quasi-linear diffusion mechanism,
but is essentially caused by nonlinear scattering: the phase trapping
and the phase dislocation. In response to upper-band whistler chorus
bursts, multiple nonlinear interactions finally achieve an efficient
flux enhancement of electrons on a time scale of the chorus burst. A
quasi-linear diffusion model tends to underestimate the flux enhancement
of energetic electrons as compared with a model based on the realistic
dynamic frequency spectrum of whistler waves. It is concluded that the
nonlinear phase trapping plays an important role in the rapid flux
enhancement of energetic electrons observed by Arase.