Whistler turbulence at the magnetopause: A nonlinear generation mechanism

The plasma maser effect in the existence of enhanced kinetic Alfven wave turbulence is investigated as the generation mechanism of the whistler turbulence at the magnetopause. The numerical results of the growth rate show that 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 growth rate occurs on the scale of the effective ion Larmor radius. The kinetic Alfven wave dynamics associated with the scale length of the effective ion Larmor radius is intrinsically important in the magnetic reconnection and leads to the generation of whistler turbulence. The theoretical model of the generation of whistler turbulence is useful for explaining the observations of intense electromagnetic fluctuations at the magnetopause. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1326063].