Slow electron holes in multicomponent plasmas

Abstract

Electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs), often interpreted as electron phase space holes, are commonly observed in plasmas and are manifestations of strongly nonlinear processes. Often slow ESWs are observed, suggesting generation by the Buneman instability. The instability criteria, however, are generally not satisfied. We show how slow electron holes can be generated by a modified Buneman instability in a plasma that includes a slow electron beam on top of a warm thermal electron background. This lowers the required current for marginal instability and allows for generation of slow electron holes for a wide range of beam parameters that covers expected plasma distributions in space, for example, in magnetic reconnection regions. At higher beam speeds, the electron-electron beam instability becomes dominant instead, producing faster electron holes. The range of phase speeds for this model is consistent with a statistical set of observations at the magnetopause made by Cluster.