Wave-particle transport from electrostatic instabilities

Abstract

The second‐order theory for electrostatic microinstabilities driven by currents both across and parallel to a uniform magnetic field in a Vlasov plasma is considered. Both electrons and ions are taken as magnetized, and propagation is in the plane defined by the drift velocities and the magnetic field. A consistent procedure is used to compare wave‐particle exchange frequencies of momentum and energy for the lower hybrid density drift, ion cyclotron electron density drift, universal density drift, ion acoustic current, and ion cyclotron current instabilities. In this model, resistivities and heating frequencies of the universal instability are substantially greater than those due to the other drift modes, and wave‐particle transport due to the ion cyclotron electron density drift instability is larger than that of the lower hybrid density drift instability at T_e≳T_i.