FORMATION OF WAVE-FRONT PATTERN ACCOMPANIED BY CURRENT-DRIVEN ELECTROSTATIC ION-CYCLOTRON INSTABILITIES

Formation of a wave-front pattern accompanied by an electrostatic ion- cyclotron instability driven by electrons drifting along a magnetic fi eld is investigated by two-and-half dimensional particle simulations, A clear spatial wave-front pattern appears as the ion cyclotron wave g rows due to the instability. When the electron stream is uniform in th e system, an obliquely intersected stripe wave-front pattern is formed . When the stream has a bell-shaped pattern across the magnetic field, a V-shaped stripe wave-front pattern appears. The wave fronts have sm all angles with the magnetic field lines and propagate from the high-s tream region to the low-stream region. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.