Energization of cold ions by electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves: Magnetospheric multiscale (MMS) observations

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves have been studied in this manuscript which are triggered by hot proton thermal anisotropy having energy ranging from 7  to 26 keV with a minimum resonant energy of 6.9 keV. However, an opposite effect can be observed for the hot protons for energy less than the minimum resonant energy. When the intensity of EMIC waves is large, the cold protons (ions) having low-energies can be energized by the EMIC waves. The possible reasons for this energization are the phase bunching of low energy ions with EMIC waves and the generation of electric fields at the relaxation time of substorm. As a consequence, these undetectable protons now become detectable, and the number density and temperature anisotropy of the protons also increase within the energy range from 1 to 100 eV. Accordingly, the helium ions are also energized by the EMIC waves.