Open AccessSelf‐consistent formation of electron κ distribution: 2. Further numerical investigation
Author(s) -
Rhee Tongnyeol,
Ryu ChangMo,
Yoon Peter H.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2006ja011682
Subject(s) - electron , physics , range (aeronautics) , atomic physics , plasma , ion , cathode ray , beam (structure) , population , electron temperature , thermal , energy (signal processing) , computational physics , materials science , nuclear physics , optics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics , sociology , demography , composite material
In the preceding article (Yoon et al., 2006) the basic physics behind the generation of suprathermal electrons (the κ distribution) by means of self‐consistent processes is elucidated. In this followup paper, further numerical investigation of the electron κ formation is carried out. In particular, the underlying input physical parameters which include the plasma parameter g = 1/ λ D 3 , the electron beam‐to‐background density ratio, b /, the electron‐to‐ion temperature ratio, T e / T i , and the ratio of average beam speed to electron thermal speed, V 0 / v Te , are systematically varied. It is shown that the electron suprathermal tail formation takes place over a wide range of physical parameters. It is also found that the formation of suprathermal tail appears to exhibit critical behavior in that there is a threshold beam energy below which no suprathermal population is formed, but when the energy threshold is crossed, the tail generation is greatly facilitated.