Whistler wave generation by non-gyrotropic, relativistic, electron beams

Abstract

Particle-in-cell code, EPOCH, is used for studying features of the wave component evident to propagate backwards from the front of the non-gyrotropic, relativistic beam of electrons injected in the Maxwellian, magnetised background plasma with decreasing density profile. According to recent findings presented in Tsiklauri [Phys. Plasmas 18, 052903 (2011)], Schmitz and Tsiklauri [Phys. Plasmas 20, 062903 (2013)], and Pechhacker and Tsiklauri [Phys. Plasmas 19, 112903 (2012)], in a 1.5-dimensional magnetised plasma system, the non-gyrotropic beam generates freely escaping electromagnetic radiation with properties similar to the Type-III solar radio bursts. In this study, the backwards propagating wave component evident in the perpendicular components of the electromagnetic field in such a system is presented for the first time. Background magnetic field strength in the system is varied in order to prove that the backwards propagating wave's frequency, prescribed by the whistler wave dispersion relation, is proportional to the specified magnetic field. Moreover, the identified whistlers are shown to be generated by the normal Doppler-shifted relativistic resonance. Large fraction of the energy of the perpendicular electromagnetic field components is found to be carried away by the whistler waves, while a small but sufficient fraction is going into L- and R-electromagnetic modes.