A field-particle correlation analysis of magnetic pumping

Abstract

Spacecraft measurements of the solar wind have observed suprathermal tails in the energy distribution of particles. While the mechanism for this energization is still unsettled, recent work has suggested that magnetic pumping may be able to account for this energization. The newly devised field-particle correlation technique employs single-point measurements of the particle velocity distributions and electromagnetic fields to generate a characteristic velocity-space signature that can be used to identify the mechanism of particle energization. Here, we apply this technique to an analytical model of magnetic pumping to predict the velocity-space signature of magnetic pumping, as a function of the plasma collisionality and the amplitude of the magnetic field magnitude fluctuations, that can be used to seek evidence of magnetic pumping in kinetic numerical simulations or spacecraft measurements of heliospheric plasmas.