Longitudinal waves in a perpendicular collisionless plasma shock: I. Cold ions

Abstract

This paper considers electrostatic waves in a Vlasov plasma of unmagnetized ions and magnetized, Maxwellian electrons. The linear dispersion relation is derived for waves in a perpendicular shock such that the most important sources of instability are the E × B and ∇B electron drifts. For the case of cold ions, propagation perpendicular to the applied magnetic field, and the E × B drift alone, a numerical analysis of frequency vs. wave-number is presented. The effects of the ∇B drift are also considered, and it is shown that the maximum growth rate can be larger than the maximum growth rate for the zero magnetic field ion acoustic instabifity under comparable conditions.