The evolution of Langmuir waves and ion-acoustic waves stimulated by a hot electron beam in an initially homogeneous plasma is investigated numerically in time, position, and wave number space. Quasilinear interactions between the beam particles and Langmuir waves, nonlinear interactions between the Langmuir and ion-acoustic waves through Langmuir decay processes, and spontaneous emission are taken into account in the kinetic theory employed. For illustrative parameters of those in the solar wind near 1 a.u., nonlinear Langmuir decays are observed to transfer the beam-driven Langmuir waves rapidly out of resonance. The scattered Langmuir waves then undergo further decays, moving sequentially toward small wave numbers, until decay is kinematically prohibited. The main features of the evolution of Langmuir and ion-acoustic waves are spatially inhomogeneous. The scattered Langmuir spectra increase and eventually reach or exceed the beam-driven Langmuir spectra at a given spatial location (except in regions where further decays proceed). The ion-acoustic waves are relatively weak and subject to damping at the later stages of their evolution. The development of fine structures in the product Langmuir and ion-acoustic waves are observed, due to depletion of their energy by decay and dominant damping effects, respectively. The propagation of the beam is essentially unaffected by the operation of the decay process. The decay process is thus slaved to the primary beam–plasma evolution, as assumed in previous studies. A variation of the ratio of electron temperature to ion temperature is found to affect not only the ion-acoustic wave levels through effects on the damping rate, but also the dynamics of decay via effects on the decay rate. The latter was not addressed in previous studies. Furthermore, spontaneous emission of ion-acoustic waves is found to affect the dynamics of decay, thus its inclusion is necessary to correctly model the Langmuir and ion-acoustic spectra.
The properties of unmagnetized Langmuir waves and cold plasma magnetoionic waves (x, o, z and whistler) are well known. However, the connections between these modes in a magnetized kinetic plasma have not been explored in detail. Here, wave properties are investigated by numerically solving the dispersion equation derived from the Vlasov equations both with and without a beam instability present. For ωp>Ωe, it is shown that the generalized Langmuir mode at oblique propagation angles has magnetic z-mode characteristics at low wave numbers and thermal Langmuir mode characteristics at high wave numbers. For ωp<Ωe, it is shown that the (oblique) Langmuir mode instead connects to the whistler mode at low wave numbers. The transition from the Langmuir/z mode to the Langmuir/whistler mode near ωp=Ωe is rapid. In addition, the effects on wave dispersion and polarization after adding a beam are investigated. Applications of this theory to magnetized Langmuir waves in Earth’s foreshock and the solar wind, to waves observed near the plasma frequency in the auroral regions, and to solar type III bursts are discussed.
The nonlinear process of electromagnetic Langmuir decay, which leads to radio emission near the plasma frequency, is studied for situations in which Langmuir waves are directly driven by an electron beam and indirectly generated via electrostatic Langmuir decays. The electromagnetic Langmuir decay is stimulated by the presence of ion-acoustic waves. An approximate method is devised for studying this emission process with axial symmetry (along the direction of beam propagation) in three spatial dimensions, based upon the Langmuir and ion-acoustic wave dynamics in one spatial dimension. Numerical studies of the fundamental electromagnetic emission starting from electron dynamics are then carried out via quasilinear theory, and the results are explored for illustrative parameters. The evolution of the fundamental transverse waves shows the combined effects of local emission and propagation away from the source. At a given location, the emission rate shows a series of peaks associated with successive electromagnetic decays of the Langmuir waves, which are either driven by the beam or produced by successive electrostatic decays. The emission rate for a given electromagnetic decay decreases with time, following an initial increase. In addition, the emission rate for a specific electromagnetic decay shows approximate dipolar form, consistent with previous analytical work. Consequently, the fundamental transverse waves emitted locally propagate approximately symmetrically in both the forward and the backward directions. Variation of the background electron to ion temperature ratio, beam injection parameters, and angular widths of the Langmuir and ion-acoustic spectra are found to affect the emission rate and, hence, the fundamental transverse wave levels. Furthermore detailed studies show that the wave numbers of the maximum emission rates are also in good agreement with an approximate prediction for simple model Langmuir and ion-acoustic spectra.
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