Relativistic electron acceleration by oblique whistler waves

Test-particle simulations of electrons interacting with finite-amplitude, obliquely propagating whistler waves are carried out in order to investigate the acceleration of relativistic electrons by these waves. According to the present findings, an efficient acceleration of relativistic electrons requires a narrow range of oblique propagation angles, close to the whistler resonance cone angle, when the wave amplitude is held constant at relatively low value. For a constant wave propagation angle, it is found that a range of oblique whistler wave amplitudes permits the acceleration of relativistic electrons to O(MeV) energies. An initial distribution of test electrons is shown to form a power-law distribution when plotted in energy space. It is also found that the acceleration is largely uniform in electron pitch-angle space. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.