Electron two-stream instability and its application in solar and heliophysics

Abstract

It is well known that electron beams accelerated in solar flares can drive two-stream instability and produce radio bursts in the solar corona as well as in the interplanetary medium. Recent observations show that the solar wind likely originates from nanoflare-like events near the surface of the Sun where locally heated plasma escapes along open field lines into space. Recent numerical simulations and theoretical studies show that electron two-stream instability (ETSI) driven by nanoflare-accelerated electron beams can produce the observed nanoflare-type radio bursts, the non-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution function of the solar wind, and the kinetic scale turbulence in solar wind. This brief review focus on the basic theoretical framework and recent progress in the nonlinear evolution of ETSI driven by electron beams, including the formation of electron holes, Langmuir wave generation in warm plasma, and the nonlinear modulation instability and Langmuir collapse. Potential applications in heliophysics and astrophysics are discussed.