Parametric decay of a parallel propagating monochromatic whistler wave: Particle-in-cell simulations

Abstract

In this paper, by using one-dimensional (1-D) particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate the parametric decay of a parallel propagating monochromatic whistler wave with various wave frequencies and amplitudes. The pump whistler wave can decay into a backscattered daughter whistler wave and an ion acoustic wave, and the decay instability grows more rapidly with the increase of the frequency or amplitude. When the frequency or amplitude is sufficiently large, a multiple decay process may occur, where the daughter whistler wave undergoes a secondary decay into an ion acoustic wave and a forward propagating whistler wave. We also find that during the parametric decay a considerable part of protons can be accelerated along the background magnetic field by the enhanced ion acoustic wave through the Landau resonance. The implication of the parametric decay to the evolution of whistler waves in Earth's magnetosphere is also discussed in the paper.