Speaker
Description
Electron heating in the solar wind and the evolution of velocity distribution functions (VDF) remain fundamental questions in space physics. This work presents a numerical study of wave-particle interactions, focusing on electron heating driven by whistler waves. To capture the detailed kinetic effects governing this dynamics, we employ the KEMPO (Kyoto University ElectroMagnetic Particle Code) for one-dimensional (1D) Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations. As input parameters, the model is initialized with the plasma beta ($\beta_e$), temperature anisotropy ($T_{\perp}/T_{\parallel}$), and the ratio between plasma and cyclotron frequencies ($\omega_{pe}/\Omega_e$). Furthermore, Kappa velocity distribution functions are utilized to represent suprathermal populations, specifically the electron strahl. Based on the temporal evolution of these conditions, the resulting parameters extracted from the simulation include electromagnetic field fluctuations ($\delta B$, $\delta E$), the evolution of pitch-angle scattering, and variations in the electron heat flux. The 1D approach allows for isolating energy and momentum exchanges along the wave propagation direction, providing high-resolution analysis of particle energization. The expected results aim to deepen the theoretical understanding of kinetic signatures observed in situ by space missions, connecting the microscale physics of plasma instabilities with the macroscopic thermodynamics of solar wind expansion.