Experimental characterization of nonlinear processes of whistler branch waves

Abstract

Experiments in the Space Physics Simulation Chamber at the Naval Research Laboratory isolated and characterized important nonlinear wave-wave and wave-particle interactions that can occur in the Earth's Van Allen radiation belts by launching predominantly electrostatic waves in the intermediate frequency range with wave normal angle greater than 85° and measuring the nonlinearly generated electromagnetic scattered waves. The scattered waves have a perpendicular wavelength that is nearly an order of magnitude larger than that of the pump wave. Calculations of scattering efficiency from experimental measurements demonstrate that the scattering efficiency is inversely proportional to the damping rate and trends towards unity as the damping rate approaches zero. Signatures of both wave-wave and wave-particle scatterings are also observed in the triggered emission process in which a launched wave resonant with a counter-propagating electron beam generates a large amplitude chirped whistler wave. The possibility of nonlinear scattering or three wave decay as a saturation mechanism for the triggered emission is suggested. The laboratory experiment has inspired the search for scattering signatures in the in situ data of chorus emission in the radiation belts.