Exact Solution with Shock-Like Structure for Nonlinear Kinetic Alfvéh Waves and Electron Acceleration

An analytical solution with shock-like structure for nonlinear kinetic Alfvén waves in a low-β (β << m_e /m_i << 1) plasma is presented. It is showed that the oblique propagating nonlinear kinetic Alfvén wave can rarefy the plasma and lead to a local density jump over a characteristic width of 10λ_e at the wave front, in particular, these new shock-like structure of nonlinear kinetic Alfvén waves possess a net field-aligned electric potential drop with a typical order of (2m_e /m_iβ)T_e / e >> T_e / e , as a consequence, they can effectively accelerate field-aligned electrons to velocities of order of the Alfvén velocity.