Using Gyrokinetic Simulations to Explore the Acceleration of Auroral Electrons by Alfven Waves

The physics of the aurora is one of the foremost unsolved problems of space physics. The mechanisms responsible for accelerating electrons that precipitate onto the ionosphere are not fully understood. For more than three decades, particle interactions with Alfven waves have been proposed as a possible means for accelerating electrons and generating aurorae. Due to the limitations of spacecraft conjunction studies and other multi-spacecraft approaches, it is unlikely that it will ever be possible, through spacecraft observations alone, to confirm definitively the proposed electron acceleration mechanism. Our team has pursued a long-term research program to confirm the acceleration of electrons by inertial Alfven waves under conditions relevant to the auroral acceleration zone using a series of experiments on the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) at UCLA. Here we present supporting nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of the acceleration of electrons by an inertial Alfven wave for parameters relevant to the LAPD experiments, providing a crucial framework needed to interpret our experimental measurements.