Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Discovery of the action of a geophysical synchrotron in the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts
AU - Mann, Ian R.
AU - Lee, E.A.
AU - Claudepierre, S. G.
AU - Fennell, J. F.
AU - Degeling, A.
AU - Rae, I. J.
AU - Baker, D.N.
AU - Reeves, G. D.
AU - Spence, H. E.
AU - Ozeke, L. G.
AU - Rankin, R.
AU - Milling, David K.
AU - Kale, A.
AU - Friedel, R. W. H.
AU - Honary, Farideh
PY - 2013/11/19
Y1 - 2013/11/19
N2 - Although the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts were discovered over 50 years ago, the dominant processes responsible for relativistic electron acceleration, transport and loss remain poorly understood. Here we show evidence for the action of coherent acceleration due to resonance with ultra-low frequency waves on a planetary scale. Data from the CRRES probe, and from the recently launched multi-satellite NASA Van Allen Probes mission, with supporting modelling, collectively show coherent ultra-low frequency interactions which highenergy resolution data reveals are far more common than either previously thought or observed. The observed modulations and energy-dependent spatial structure indicate a mode of action analogous to a geophysical synchrotron; this new mode of response represents a significant shift in known Van Allen radiation belt dynamics and structure. These periodic collisionless betatron acceleration processes also have applications in understanding the dynamics of, and periodic electromagnetic emissions from, distant plasma-astrophysical systems.
AB - Although the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts were discovered over 50 years ago, the dominant processes responsible for relativistic electron acceleration, transport and loss remain poorly understood. Here we show evidence for the action of coherent acceleration due to resonance with ultra-low frequency waves on a planetary scale. Data from the CRRES probe, and from the recently launched multi-satellite NASA Van Allen Probes mission, with supporting modelling, collectively show coherent ultra-low frequency interactions which highenergy resolution data reveals are far more common than either previously thought or observed. The observed modulations and energy-dependent spatial structure indicate a mode of action analogous to a geophysical synchrotron; this new mode of response represents a significant shift in known Van Allen radiation belt dynamics and structure. These periodic collisionless betatron acceleration processes also have applications in understanding the dynamics of, and periodic electromagnetic emissions from, distant plasma-astrophysical systems.
U2 - 10.1038/ncomms3795
DO - 10.1038/ncomms3795
M3 - Journal article
VL - 4
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 2795
ER -