Licentate seminar: Electron heating and wave-particle interactions in turbulent space plasma

The Earth’s magnetosheath is a space plasma region consisting of solar wind plasma which is heated and compressed due to interaction with the Earth's magnetic field. This turbulent region contains coherent structures and various plasma waves which affect the particle dynamics and collisionless energy transfer. In this licentiate thesis, we investigate such processes and where they occur. Through in-situ measurements from NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, we study whistler waves – electromagnetic, right-hand polarized waves known to heat electrons – and how they interact with electrons. We show how whistler waves are generated by electrons in the turbulent magnetosheath. We also investigate which plasma conditions are favorable for whistler waves to form.