Verification of the Standard Theory of Plasma Emission with Particle-in-cell Simulations

Abstract

The standard theory of plasma emission is based on kinetic couplings between a single beam of energetic electrons and unmagnetized thermal plasmas, involving multistep nonlinear wave–particle and wave–wave interactions. The theory has not yet been completely verified with fully kinetic electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Earlier studies, greatly limited by available computational resources, are controversial regarding whether the fundamental emission can be generated according to the standard theory. To resolve the controversy, we conducted PIC simulations with a large domain of simulations and a large number of macroparticles, among the largest ones of similar studies. We found significant fundamental emission if the relative beam density is small enough (say, ≤0.01), in line with an earlier study with a much smaller domain; the relative intensity (normalized by the total initial beam energy) of all modes, except the mode associated with the beam-electromagnetic Weibel instability, decreases with the increasing relative density of the beam. We also found a significant transverse magnetic component associated with the superluminal Langmuir turbulence, which has been mistakenly regarded as evidence of the F emission in the earlier study. Further investigations are required to reveal their origin.