Generation of electromagnetic waves in the very low frequency band by velocity gradient
- Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375-5346 (United States)
- Icarus Research Inc., P.O. Box 30780, Bethesda, Maryland 20824-0780 (United States)
It is shown that a magnetized plasma layer with a velocity gradient in the flow perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field is unstable to waves in the Very Low Frequency band that spans the ion and electron gyrofrequencies. The waves are formally electromagnetic. However, depending on wave vector k{sup ¯}=kc/ω{sub pe} (normalized by the electron skin depth) and the obliqueness, k{sub ⊥}/k{sub ||}, where k{sub ⊥,||} are wave vectors perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field, the waves are closer to electrostatic in nature when k{sup ¯}≫1 and k{sub ⊥}≫k{sub ||} and electromagnetic otherwise. Inhomogeneous transverse flows are generated in plasma that contains a static electric field perpendicular to the magnetic field, a configuration that may naturally arise in the boundary layer between plasmas of different characteristics.
- OSTI ID:
- 22252148
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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