Particle Simulations of Plasma Wave Instabilities ¶
1. Name of Database: Particle Simulations of Plasma Wave Instabilities¶:
Electron beam instability as generation mechanism of
electrostatic solitary waves in the magnetotail
2. Institution:”” Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University
3. Contents of Database: ””
The database contains six examples of simulation runs of electron beam instabilities
as typically found in space plasmas. These instabilities play important roles in the
energy transfer and dissipation in space plasmas. Nonlinear evolutions of these
instabilities are reproduced by one-dimensional particle simulation with periodic
boundaries. As a result of the nonlinear evolutions, electrostatic solitary waves (ESW)
are generated. ESW are very stable electrostatic potentials, traveling over a long
distance along the ambient magnetic field. These ESW are frequently observed in the
plasma sheet boundary layer as reported by the GEOTAIL spacecraft. Since ESW appear
as broadband noise in frequency spectra, they were also observed as broadband electrostatic
noise (BEN) in the previous spacecraft observations. Recent spacecraft observations in
other regions of the magnetosphere show that there exist ESW associated with fluxes of
high energy particles, which verifies that the nonlinear processes as demonstrated by
the present simulations are taking place ubiquitously in space plasmas.
All computations were performed on the KDK computer system at Research Institute for
Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University.
4. Examples of Database:
An example of frames showing the simulation results is given below. The top panel is
a contour plot of the velocity distribution function f(X, Vx) in the velocity of phase
space X-Vx,. The middle and lower panels are spatial profiles of the electric field
Ex(x) and electrostatic potential ¦µ.
Detailed description of the simulation runs are found in the following reference.
Y. Omura, H. Matsumoto, T. Miyake and H. Kojima, Electron Beam Instabilities as
Generation Mechanism of Electrostatic Solitary Waves in the Magnetotail, Journal
of Geophysical Research, vol. 101, pages 2,685-2,697, 1996.
The simulation code used in producing the present database. is a one-dimensional
elelctrostatic coode.
Detailed description of the code is found in the following reference.
Y. Omura and H. Matsumoto, KEMPO1: Technical Guide to One-Dimensional Electromagnetic
Particle Code,
Computer Space Plasma Physics: Simulation Techniques and Softwares, edited by H. Matsumoto
and Y. Omura, pages 21-65, Terra Scientific, Tokyo, 1993.
http://www.terrapub.co.jp/e-library/cspp/index.html
5. Contact:
””Yoshiharu Omura
””RISH, Kyoto University
””Gokasho, Uji, 611-0011, Japan
””Phone: +81-774-38-3811
””E-mail: omura[AT]rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp
6. Public Offering of Database:
””ftp://center.stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp/web1/sramp/cdrom/sm0005/index.html
Also see: Home Page of Geotail Plasma Wave Instrument
””http://www.rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp/space/gtlpwi/
CAWSES SPACE-W Databese List.
CAWSES SPACE-W Home Page.