Return current and collisional effects in nonthermal electron beams with pulsed injection

Abstract

The evolution of a pulse of nonthermal electrons, with a truncated power-law spectrum, injected into a uniformly dense coronal plasma, is studied by the 1-D particle simulation of return current and direct collisional effects. The beam pulse injection profile varies gradually enough for total current neutrality, and a steady-state Ohm's law for the return current, to apply at each point and time. Quasi-linear relaxation of the beam is deliberately ignored in order to isolate the modification of return current effects by pulsed injection.