The effect of electron beams on cyclotron maser emission excited by lower-energy cutoffs

Journal Article · Sun May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4948713· OSTI ID:22600178

Zhao, G. Q.; Feng, H. Q. ^[1]; Wu, D. J. ^[2]

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1. Institute of Space Physics, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang (China)
2. Purple Mountain Observatory, CAS, Nanjing (China)

Electron-cyclotron maser (ECM) is one of the most important emission mechanisms in astrophysics and can be excited efficiently by lower-energy cutoffs of power-law electrons. These non-thermal electrons probably propagate as a directed collimated beam along ambient magnetic fields. This paper investigates the ECM, in which the effect of electron beams is emphasized. Results show the dependence of emission properties of the ECM on the beam feature. The maximum growth rate of the extraordinary mode (X2) rapidly decreases as the beam momentum increases, while the growth rate of the ordinary mode (O1) changes slightly. In particular, the ordinary mode can overcome the extraordinary mode and becomes the fastest growth mode once the beam momentum is large enough. This research presents an extension of the conventional studies on ECM driven by lower-energy cutoffs and may be helpful to understand better the emission process of solar type I radio bursts, which are dominated by the ordinary mode emission.

• OSTI ID: 22600178
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 23; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
CYCLOTRONS
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELECTRONS
EMISSION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MASERS