3-DIMENSIONAL NUMERICAL-SIMULATION OF ION AND ELECTRON ACCELERATIONS BY PARAMETRIC DECAY OF FAST LOWER-HYBRID WAVES

The transverse acceleration of ions by fast lower hybrid waves in the topside auroral ionosphere has remained elusive. The linear and nonlin ear propagation and evolution of lower hybrid waves are essentially a three-dimensional problem. Analytical treatment of this problem, inclu ding the essential kinetic effects for particle acceleration, is a for midable task if not impossible. We have treated this problem by a full y three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. It is found that a fa st lower hybrid pump wave undergoes a parametric decay generating seco ndary waves over a broad frequency range from the ion cyclotron freque ncy Omega(i) to just above the lower hybrid frequency omega(lh). These secondary waves are instrumental in the accelerations of both cold io ns and electrons perpendicular and parallel to the ambient magnetic fi eld B, respectively.