Nonlinear Development of a Low-Frequency Hall Current Instability in a Dusty Plasma

Abstract

The nonlinear evolution of dust waves generated by a low-frequency Hall current instability in a collisional dusty plasma is investigated with theory and nonlinear numerical simulations. The instability is driven by an electron E × B current and is an analog of the well-known Farley–Buneman instability in the dust acoustic type wave regime. This instability is believed to have broad applications to irregularity production in regions where dust is present in the earth’s ionosphere such as noctilucent clouds and meteor trails. The results indicate that the instability nonlinearly saturates with dust heating and the production of secondary waves that propagate in a direction perpendicular to the primary dust acoustic type waves. Results of the investigation also indicate that dust-neutral collisions increase the amplitude of the unstable dust waves after nonlinear saturation. Possible mechanisms for the production of the secondary waves as well as implications of these waves are described.