Electron distributions observed with Langmuir waves in the plasma sheet boundary layer
- Solar and Space Weather Research Group, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784 (Korea, Republic of)
- School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 446-701 (Korea, Republic of)
The present paper investigates the Langmuir turbulence driven by counter-streaming electron beams and its plausible association with observed features in the Earth's plasma sheet boundary layer region. A one-dimensional electrostatic particle-in-cell simulation code is employed in order to simulate broadband electrostatic waves with characteristic frequency in the vicinity of the electron plasma frequency ω/ω{sub pe}≃1.0. The present simulation confirms that the broadband electrostatic waves may indeed be generated by the counter-streaming electron beams. It is also found that the observed feature associated with low energy electrons, namely quasi-symmetric velocity space plateaus, are replicated according to the present simulation. However, the present investigation only partially succeeds in generating the suprathermal tails such that the origin of observed quasi power-law energetic population formation remains outstanding.
- OSTI ID:
- 22303433
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 9; 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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