Test particle study of nonlinear wave-particle interaction in the magnetosonic mode: Pure sinusoidal wave model
Abstract
A numerical study of the motions of test particles in a sinusoidal magnetosonic (hydromagnetic fast) wave is presented. The magnetic amplitude of the wave was varied from 1% to 40% of the external magnetic field strength. The motions of 400 particles are calculated in each computer run by time integration of the equation of motion, without the use of the guiding center approximation. The particles are initially distributed uniformly in space with a specified velocity distribution; the space and velocity distributions then evolve in time. For small wave amplitudes, the numerical results agree well with the small amplitude kinetic theory of collisionless Landau damping of hydromagnetic waves. In large amplitude cases, nonlinear effects such as particle trapping, saturation and oscillation characteristics of the average kinetic energy, and the diffusion of particles in velocity space are observed. The physical interpretation of these numerical results is discussed in terms of the guiding center approximation.
- Publication:
-
Physics of Fluids
- Pub Date:
- December 1977
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.861839
- Bibcode:
- 1977PhFl...20.2093M
- Keywords:
-
- Magnetosonic Resonance;
- Particle Interactions;
- Plasma Interactions;
- Sine Waves;
- Wave Interaction;
- Amplitudes;
- Computerized Simulation;
- Kinetic Energy;
- Particle Trajectories;
- Propagation Modes;
- Propagation Velocity;
- Plasma Physics