Excitation of zonal flows by electron convective cells in a nonuniform dusty magnetoplasma

Abstract

It is shown that the ponderomotive force of electron convective cells can generate zonal flows (or dust convective cells) in a nonuniform magnetoplasma. For this purpose, two fluid equations are used to derive a pair of coupled equations which govern the nonlinear coupling between electron and dust convective cells. A dispersion relation for the parametric interactions is deduced from the mode coupling equations. Explicit expressions for the growth rates of electron convective cell driven zonal flows are then obtained. The relevance of our investigation to laboratory and space plasmas is pointed out.