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Oblique electron fire hose instability: Particle‐in‐cell simulations
Author(s) -
Hellinger Petr,
Trávníček Pavel M.,
Decyk Victor K.,
Schriver David
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2013ja019227
Subject(s) - instability , oblique case , anisotropy , electron , whistler , physics , nonlinear system , particle (ecology) , condensed matter physics , ballooning , mechanics , computational physics , optics , plasma , geology , quantum mechanics , philosophy , linguistics , oceanography , tokamak
Nonlinear properties of the oblique resonant electron fire hose instability are investigated using two‐dimensional particle‐in‐cell simulations in the Darwin approximation for weak initial growth rates. The weak electron fire hose instability has a self‐destructive nonlinear behavior; it destabilizes a nonpropagating branch which only exists for a sufficiently strong temperature anisotropy. The nonlinear evolution leads to generation of nonpropagating waves which in turn scatter electrons and reduce their temperature anisotropy. As the temperature anisotropy is being reduced, the nonpropagating branch disappears and the generated standing waves are transformed to propagating whistler waves which are rapidly damped. Consequently, the oblique electron fire hose efficiently reduces the electron temperature anisotropy.