Open AccessParametric instabilities in a two ion species plasma as a driver of super Alfvénic waves
Author(s) -
Shuichi Matsukiyo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1620/1/012013
Subject(s) - dispersion relation , physics , plasma , ion , parametric statistics , electron , cyclotron , atomic physics , excited state , proton , instability , dispersion (optics) , computational physics , quantum electrodynamics , nuclear physics , optics , mechanics , quantum mechanics , statistics , mathematics
Linear dispersion relation of parametric instabilities of a left hand circularly polarized wave in a three species plasma consisting electrons, protons, and α particles is derived and the obtained dispersion relation is numerically solved. It is shown that the so-called super Alfvénic waves, which are thought to play important roles in preferential acceleration of heavy ions, can get excited through a parametric decay instability when the parent wave is on the proton cyclotron branch and the plasma beta is sufficiently low. A variety of other parametric instabilities are also generated.