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Generation mechanism of whistler waves produced by electron beam injection in space
Author(s) -
Pritchett P. L.,
Karimabadi H.,
Omidi N.
Publication year - 1989
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/gl016i008p00883
Subject(s) - whistler , physics , electromagnetic radiation , ionosphere , plasma , instability , wavelength , beam (structure) , antenna (radio) , optics , electron , cathode ray , radiation , computational physics , atomic physics , geophysics , mechanics , quantum mechanics , computer science , telecommunications
Electromagnetic particle simulations are used to determine the generation mechanism of the whistler waves observed in connection with the artificial injection of electron beams in the ionosphere. The production of the waves is shown to be closely connected with the beam‐plasma interaction, which leads to the formation of a current structure which acts like an antenna and emits the whistler waves in a coherent manner. This process, in contrast to a mechanism involving amplification of radiation by a whistler mode plasma instability within the beam, allows the whistlers to be generated even though the beam width is less than one wavelength.