Steady-State Solution for Solar Wind Electrons by Spontaneous Emissions

The solar wind electrons are made of three or four distinct components, which are core Maxwellian background, isotropic halo, and super-halo (and sometimes, highly field-aligned strahl component which can be considered as a fourth element). We put forth a steady-state model for the solar wind electrons by considering both the steady-state particle and wave kinetic equations. Since the steady-state solar wind electron VDFs and the steady-state wave fluctuation spectrum are related to each other, we also investigate the complete fluctuation spectra in the whistler and Langmuir frequency ranges by considering halo- and superhalo-like model electron VDFs. It is found that the energetic electrons make important contributions to the total emission spectrum. Based on this, we complete the steady-state model by considering both the whistler and Langmuir fluctuations. In particular, the Langmuir fluctuation plays an important role in the formation and maintenance of nonthermal electrons.