Whistler turbulence at the magnetopause: A nonlinear generation mechanism

The plasma maser effect in the existence of enhanced kinetic Alfven wave tu rbulence is investigated as the generation mechanism of the whistler turbul ence at the magnetopause. The numerical results of the growth rate show tha t on the scale of neither the ion inertial length nor the electron inertial length, the whistler waves can be excited, and the peak of the maximum gro wth rate occurs on the scale of the effective ion Larmor radius. The kineti c Alfven wave dynamics associated with the scale length of the effective io n Larmor radius is intrinsically important in the magnetic reconnection and leads to the generation of whistler turbulence. The theoretical model of t he generation of whistler turbulence is useful for explaining the observati ons of intense electromagnetic fluctuations at the magnetopause. (C) 2001 A merican Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1326063].