Amplitude modulation of whistlers by modified ion-cyclotron perturbations in plasmas

The nonlinear interaction between a large-amplitude whistler pump and the modified ion-cyclotron perturbations is studied. A nonlinear dispersion relation for the modulation/filamentation interaction is derived and solved numerically to investigate the instability properties. We discuss the relevance of the present study with regard to recent laboratory experiments where the modulation/filamentation of a whistler pump by the modified ion-cyclotron waves has been observed.