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Ann. Geophys., 26, 1993-1997, 2008
www.ann-geophys.net/26/1993/2008/
© European Geosciences Union 2008
Evidence for particle acceleration in the magnetospheric cusp
J. Chen
Dept. of Astronomy & Center for Space Physics, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Abstract. New evidence reveals that
the charged particles can be energized locally in the magnetospheric cusp.
The power spectral density of the cusp magnetic fluctuations shows
increases by up to four orders of magnitude in comparison to an adjacent
region. Large fluctuations of the cusp electric fields have been observed
with an amplitude of up to 350 mV/m.
The measured left-hand polarization of the cusp electric field at ion
gyro-frequencies indicates that the cyclotron resonant acceleration mechanism
is working in this region. The cyclotron resonant acceleration can energize
ions from keV to MeV in seconds.
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