Growing ion holes as the cause of auroral double layers

Technical Report · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6907767

Tetreault, D J

The nonlinear ion-hole instability is proposed as the cause of intermittent double layers observed in the auroral-particle-acceleration region. A novel feature of the instability is its occurrance in plasma that is stable to linear ion-acoustic waves. A growing ion-hole has a double-layer potential structure. This demonstrated here that nonlinear hole instability is consistent with S3-3 and Viking satellite data. Instability thresholds, as well as characteristic double-layer amplitudes, potential drops, speeds, and scale sizes are calculated. The inadequacy of conventional laser instability models in explaining the data is discussed.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6907767
• Report Number(s): AD-A-193434/8/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
AURORAE
CHARGED PARTICLES
INSTABILITY
ION ACOUSTIC WAVES
ION WAVE INSTABILITY
ION WAVES
IONS
LASERS
LAYERS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES
PLASMA WAVES