Effects of heavy ions on kinetic Alfven waves

Kinetic Alfven Wave (KAW) is one of the low-frequency electromagnetic fluctuations that are identified extensively in space plasmas by in situ observations of satellites and has been an interesting topic for discussion widely in the fields of laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasmas because of its potential importance in plasma particle energization. Some satellite observations show that the number density ratio of the oxygen ions to the ambient plasma is 30% similar to 50%, sometimes, even as high as 80%. In this paper, effects of heavy ion species on KAWs are studied in a low-beta plasma. The results show that heavy ions not only considerably reduce the propagation speed of KAWs, but also remarkably influence the parallel component of perturbed electric field of KAWs (to the ambient magnetic field). The ratio of parallel to perpendicular components of perturbed field decreases (or increases) with the heavy ion abundance for KAWs dominated by the electron inertial length (or by ion acoustic gyroradius). In particular, the resonant condition of KAWs with thermal electrons is modified by the heavy ion species.