Generation of kinetic Alfvén waves in dayside magnetopause reconnection: A 3-D global-scale hybrid simulation

Abstract

In this paper, we perform a three-dimensional (3-D) global-scale hybrid simulation to investigate the generation of kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) in reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. In the simulation, the magnetopause reconnection takes place due to a self-consistent interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere, in which the solar wind is assumed to carry a southward interplanetary magnetic field. As multiple X-line reconnection occurs, shear Alfvénic perturbations are generated from reconnection, which propagate toward polar regions along the magnetic field lines. Our detailed analysis of the electromagnetic characteristics reveals the existence of kinetic Alfvén waves on the ion kinetic scales in these perturbations, in which the parallel electric field is generated. The 3-D structures and the Poynting fluxes in the shear Alfvén waves/KAWs in the global magnetopause are presented. It is shown that these KAWs carry electromagnetic energy into the cusp, which may lead to aurora brightening.