STUDY OF NONLINEAR ALFVEN WAVES IN AN ELECTRON-POSITRON PLASMA WITH A3-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROMAGNETIC PARTICLE CODE

Results from three-dimensional (3-D) electromagnetic particle simulati ons of Alfven waves generated by an electron beam in a nonrelativistic electron-positron plasma are presented. The results show that electro static modes are excited due to the beam instability. The bunches of t he particles (electrons and positrons) caused by electrostatic waves a re directly involved in the generation of Alfven waves. The Alfven wav es propagate along the beam as damped solitons accelerating the backgr ound particles. The simulation results are in good agreement with theo retical analysis.