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Wave-particle interaction around the lower hybrid resonance

University of British Columbia

Wave-particle interaction in the ionosphere is studied theoretically for wave frequencies around the lower hybrid resonance (LHR) frequency. Expressions are derived by two methods for the growth rate of whistler-mode waves propagating in a magneto-active plasma penetrated by a tenuous beam of nonthermal particles. The first method employs the electrostatic dispersion equation; the second uses the full-wave dispersion equation which reduces to the electrostatic one for large values of refractive index. The equilibrium distribution function for the plasma is Maxwellian, and that for the diffuse streaming particles is also Maxwellian, but is shifted by a streaming velocity parallel to the background magnetic field. The first method assumes that the temperatures are isotropic, while the second assumes that the distributions are characterized by the perpendicular and parallel temperatures, T[subscript: I] and T[subscript: II] . The growth-rate expressions are fairly general, but numerical calculations are performed for the case of a cold plasma consisting of electrons, H⁺ , He⁺ , and 0⁺ ions and a beam of nonthermal electrons. The growth-rate expression obtained using the electrostatic dispersion equation shows that waves propagating slightly off the direction perpendicular to the background magnetic field can grow due to the Landau instability process which is excited by high energy (∼ 10 keV) electrons streaming along the direction of the magnetic field of the earth. The growing wave thus triggered is shown to have a frequency band with a sharp lower cutoff at the LHR frequency and an upper limit at the electron cyclotron frequency or electron plasma frequency, whichever is lower. The previous growth-rate expression is generalized by making use of the full-wave dispersion equation. It is shown that there are two regions in propagation angle 6 where the Landau instability may occur. The "electrostatic" region lies just below the resonant angle and, separated by a region of damping, the "low-θ" region lies above θ = 0 . The growth-rate values calculated in the "electrostatic" region correspond to the values obtained in the previous calculation. Generally, the maximum growth rate is larger in the "electrostatic" than in the "low-θ" region. It is also seen that with increasing frequency the "electrostatic" maximum growth rate increases monotonically and the cyclotron instabilities become important at frequencies above about ten times the LHR frequency. The influence of the following parameters on the growth rate is also examined: temperature ratio T[subscript: II]/T[subscript: I], streaming velocity of the nonthermal particles, and the ratio of the kinetic energy in the streaming motion to the thermal energy of the streaming electrons. The theory presented is applied to LHR noise bands discovered by the Canadian Alouette I satellite. It is shown that many features are in good agreement. Other observations, such as auroral hiss, also have features which suggest that the theoretical work may be relevant to these types of ionospheric noise.

Text

2011-07-19

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/36120

Geophysics

University of British Columbia

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