Abstract
The evolution of the return current induced by a charged particle beam in a magnetized plasma is studied. The beam current is perpendicular to the background magnetic field. The return current is shown to depart from the beam along the background magnetic field with a whistler rather than a diffusion or an Alfvén velocity. In a plasma bounded by two conductors the return current oscillates with the whistler period. Analytical expressions for the evolution of the magnetic field and of the plasma return current are derived for a beam with a finite width and with various rise time dependences. When the whistler time is shorter than the rise time of the beam current, the plasma return current does not grow beyond the whistler time.
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