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  • Letter
  • Open Access

First determination of whistler wave dispersion relation in superhot (Te>5keV) plasmas

W. Z. Zhang, H. S. Fu*, J. B. Cao, Z. Wang, W. D. Fu, Y. Y. Liu, and Y. Yu

  • School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, China and Key Laboratory of Space Environment Monitoring and Information Processing, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Beijing, China

  • *Corresponding author: huishanf@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. Research 6, L012047 – Published 1 March, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.L012047

Abstract

A whistler wave is a fundamental electromagnetic radiation. In the universe, it transmits information through diverse mediums at audio frequencies. To know the properties of such a radio, one should determine how its frequency (energy) changes with its wavelength (momentum). The relation between them is called the dispersion relation, which encodes essential information on the kinetics. Although the dispersion relation governs the majority of the whistler properties, the experimental determination of their entire dispersion is still a challenge today. Especially in high-temperature mediums, the group velocity dispersion properties of whistlers are still unverified by spacecraft experiments despite their practical importance. Here, for the first time, we experimentally determine the dispersion relation of whistler waves in superhot (Te>5keV) plasmas by the magnetospheric multiscale mission located in a magnetotail plasma sheet. Our result unmasks the characteristics of whistler waves at elevated temperatures and exhibits the evolution of their group velocity dispersion from positive to negative, which agrees well with kinetic theory, opening the door to controlled radio excitation and transport.

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Phys. Rev. Research 6, L012047– Published 1 March, 2024
  • Received 30 August 2023
  • Accepted 21 December 2023
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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