Electrostatic Waves Around a Magnetopause Reconnection Secondary Electron Diffusion Region Modulated by Whistler and Lower‐Hybrid Waves

Abstract

Abstract We investigate electrostatic waves in a magnetopause reconnection event around a secondary electron diffusion region. Near the current sheet mid‐plane, parallel electron beam‐mode waves are modulated by whistler waves. We conclude that the anisotropy of energized electrons in the reconnection exhaust excites whistler waves, which produce spatially modulated electron beams through nonlinear Landau resonance, and these beams excite beam‐mode electrostatic waves. In the separatrix region, parallel propagating electrostatic waves associated with field‐aligned electron beams and perpendicular propagating electron cyclotron harmonic waves with loss cone distributions exhibit modulation frequencies in the lower‐hybrid wave (LHW) frequency range. We infer that LHWs scatter electrons to produce beams and alter loss cones to modulate electrostatic waves. The results advance our understanding about the regimes and mechanisms of electrostatic waves in reconnection, with an emphasis on their coupling with lower‐frequency electromagnetic waves.

Keywords

• magnetic reconnection
• electrostatic waves
• cross‐scale wave coupling
• wave‐particle interaction