Interaction of a finite‐length ion beam with a background plasma: Reflected ions at the quasi‐parallel bow shock

Abstract

The coupling of a finite‐length, field‐aligned, ion beam with a uniform background plasma is investigated using one‐dimensional hybrid computer simulations. The finite‐length beam is used to study the interaction between the incident solar wind and ions reflected from the Earth's quasi‐parallel bow shock, where the reflection process may vary with time. The coupling between the reflected ions and the solar wind is relevant to ion heating at the bow shock and possibly to the formation of hot, flow anomalies and re‐formation of the shock itself. We find that although there are many similarities between the instabilities driven by the finite‐length beam and those predicted by linear theory for an infinite, homogeneous beam, there are also some important differences. Consistent with linear theory, the waves which dominate the interaction are the electromagnetic right‐hand polarized resonant and nonresonant modes. However, in addition to the instability growth rates, the length of time that the waves are in contact with the beam is also an important factor in determining which wave mode will dominate the interaction. Whereas linear theory predicts the nonresonant mode to have the larger growth rate for the parameters we investigate, with a finite‐length beam we find that both the nonresonant and resonant modes contribute to the interaction. We find that the interaction will result in strong coupling, where a significant fraction of the available free energy is converted into thermal energy in a short time, provided the beam is sufficiently dense or sufficiently long.