Using a particle‐in‐cell code, we study the diffusive response of electrons due to wave‐
particle interactions with whistler‐mode waves. The relatively simple configuration of field‐
aligned waves in a cold plasma is used in order to benchmark our novel method, and to
compare with previous works that used a different modelling technique. In this boundary‐
value problem, incoherent whistler‐mode waves are excited at the domain boundary, and
then propagate through the ambient plasma. Electron diffusion characteristics are directly …

Test particle codes indicate that electron dynamics due to interactions with low amplitude
incoherent whistler mode‐waves can be adequately described by quasi‐linear theory.
However there is significant evidence indicating that higher amplitude waves cause electron
dynamics not adequately described using quasi‐linear theory. Using the method that was
introduced in Allanson et al.(2019, https://doi. org/10.1029/2019JA027088), we track the
dynamical response of electrons due to interactions with incoherent whistler‐mode waves …