Ion Cyclotron Waves
Ion Cyclotron Waves (ICWs) are transverse shear waves produced as energy is released from a higher energy anisotropic distribution of ions (a.k.a. a “ring distribution” in velocity space) to a lower energy isotropic distribution. Specifically, the anisotropy arises when neutrals are ionized and accelerated along the magnetic field. The ICWs will release energy from the plasma and scatter the pick-up ions’ velocity back to thermal equilibrium. Tpar describes the ions’ temperature distribution parallel to the magnetic field and Tperp describes…