Lower hybrid turbulence driven by parallel currents and associated electron energization

Abstract

Parallel currents are usually in the form of field-aligned electron drifts in collisionless plasmas. The field-aligned drifts often drive instabilities. For instance, Drake et al. [Science, 299, 873 (2003)] found growth of parallel propagating turbulence initially and strong levels of oblique lower hybrid (LH) waves at later times; substantial parallel electron acceleration was also found. We use collisionless linear theory and quasilinear simulations to study wave growth and parallel electron dynamics in similar systems. In low-β plasmas with intense parallel currents and both with or without parallel E fields, LH waves are shown to grow even for electron distributions stable to the parallel Buneman instability and to accelerate electrons parallel to B very rapidly. This instability may be seen as the oblique limit of the ion acoustic and Buneman instabilities. The quasilinear diffusion via LH waves may release almost all of the available drift energy, and produce stronger electron acceleration and heating than the parallel Buneman instability alone.