Effect of Kinetic Alfvén Waves on Electron Transport in an Ion-Scale Flux Rope

At the Earth's magnetopause, the electron transport due to kinetic Alfven waves (KAWs) is investigated in an ion-scale flux rope by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. Clear electron dropout around 90 degrees pitch angle is observed throughout the flux rope, where intense KAWs are identified. The KAWs can effectively trap electrons by the wave parallel electric field and the magnetic mirror force, allowing electrons to undergo Landau resonance and be transported into more field-aligned directions. The pitch angle range for the trapped electrons is estimated from the wave analysis, which is in good agreement with direct pitch angle measurements of the electron distributions. The newly formed beam-like electron distribution is unstable and excites whistler waves, as revealed in the observations. We suggest that KAWs could be responsible for the plasma depletion inside a flux rope by this transport process, and thus be responsible for the formation of a typical flux rope.