Magnetosonic/whistler mode turbulence influences on ion dynamics

The development of decaying magnetosonic/whistler mode turbulence is investigated, employing a two-dimensional, fully kinetic, particle-in-cell simulation that covers scales at the end of the inertial range. The anisotropic wavenumber spectrum of magnetic fluctuations reaches electron kinetic scales through the forward cascade of the turbulence. The magnetic fluctuations have intermittency at scales shorter than the ion inertial length. The intermittent nature leads to a localized steepening of magnetic fluctuations which accelerates ions nonlinearly in the direction perpendicular to the background magnetic field. The non-Thermal ions have the speed of several times faster than the ion thermal speed. The fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulation shows important implications for a fundamental understanding of the non-Thermal ion production in magnetosonic/whistler mode turbulence.