NONLINEAR-WAVE INTERACTIONS IN 2-ELECTRON-TEMPERATURE PLASMAS

Dynamical equations are derived for the evolution of weakly nonlinear electron plasma waves when the electron distributions are characterize d by more than one temperature component. The presence of electron-aco ustic modes in multi-temperature plasmas opens a new decay channel. By considering an explicit example, it is demonstrated that these distri butions imply significant modifications of the standard models for the decay spectrum of electron plasma waves. In particular, long-waveleng th Langmuir waves can decay to shorter wavelengths. The results can ha ve implications for ionospheric heating experiments.