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Parametric decay of whistlers – A possible source of precursors
Author(s) -
Reeve C. D.,
Boswell R. W.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl003i007p00405
Subject(s) - whistler , plasmasphere , physics , magnetosphere , computational physics , plasma , plane wave , very low frequency , geophysics , atomic physics , optics , nuclear physics , astronomy
Laboratory plasma experiments show that, above a certain threshold field strength, a whistler‐mode wave (WMW) may decay parametrically into a backward propagating WMW and a low frequency ion‐acoustic wave. The required threshold field for a 2 kHz wave in the equatorial plane of the magnetosphere, just inside the plasmapause, is found to be well below 1 mVm −1 . It is suggested that the resulting backward travelling WMW may be responsible for triggering precursors ‐ rising frequency emissions which are occasionally observed to precede 2 (or more) hop whistlers.