Fermi-Compton scattering due to magnetopause surface fluctuations in Jupiter's magnetospheric cavity

The effects of boundary surface fluctuations on a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation trapped in a high Q (quality) cavity are considered. Undulating walls introduce small frequency shifts at reflection to the radiation, and it is argued that the process is entirely analogous to both Fermi (particle) acceleration and inverse Compton scattering. A Fokker-Planck formalism is pursued; it yields a diffusion equation in frequency for which the Green's function and steady-state solutions are found. Applying this analysis to the Jovian continuum radiation discovered by Voyager spacecraft, it is suggested that characteristic diffusion times are greater than 1 year, and that in order to account for the steep frequency spectra observed, an unidentified loss mechanism must operate in the cavity with a decay time constant approximately equal to the characteristic diffusion time divided by 28. A radiator-reactor model of the cavity is investigated to provide an estimate for the intrinsic luminosity of the low frequency (approximately 100 Hz) continuum source whose power is approximately 7 x 10 to the 6th W.