Connection between ambient density fluctuations and clumpy Langmuir waves in type III radio sources

1992 ◽  
Vol 387 ◽  
pp. L101 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Robinson ◽  
I. H. Cairns ◽  
D. A. Gurnett
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduard Kontar ◽  
Hamish Reid

<div>The Sun frequently accelerates near-relativistic electron beams that travel out through the solar corona and interplanetary space. Interacting with their plasma environment, these beams produce type III radio bursts, the brightest astrophysical radio sources detected by humans. The formation and motion of type III fine frequency structures is a puzzle but is commonly believed to be related to plasma turbulence in the solar corona and solar wind. Combining a theoretical framework with kinetic simulations and high-resolution radio type III observations, we quantitatively show that the fine structures are caused by the moving intense clumps of Langmuir waves in a turbulent medium. Our results show how type III fine structure can be used to remotely analyse the intensity and spectrum of compressive density fluctuations, and can infer ambient temperatures in astrophysical plasma, both significantly expanding the current diagnostic potential of solar radio emission.</div><div> </div>


Solar Physics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Robinson

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1379-1385 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Voshchepynets ◽  
V. Krasnoselskikh

Abstract. In this work, we studied the effects of background plasma density fluctuations on the relaxation of electron beams. For the study, we assumed that the level of fluctuations was so high that the majority of Langmuir waves generated as a result of beam-plasma instability were trapped inside density depletions. The system can be considered as a good model for describing beam-plasma interactions in the solar wind. Here we show that due to the effect of wave trapping, beam relaxation slows significantly. As a result, the length of relaxation for the electron beam in such an inhomogeneous plasma is much longer than in a homogeneous plasma. Additionally, for sufficiently narrow beams, the process of relaxation is accompanied by transformation of significant part of the beam kinetic energy to energy of accelerated particles. They form the tail of the distribution and can carry up to 50% of the initial beam energy flux.


1980 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Suzuki ◽  
G.A. Dulk ◽  
K. V. Sheridan

We report on the positional and polarization characteristics of Type III bursts in the range 24–220 MHz as measured by the Culgoora radioheliograph, spectrograph and spectropolarimeter. Our study includes 997 bursts which are of two classes: fundamental-harmonic (F-H) pairs and “structureless” bursts with no visible F-H structure. In a paper published elsewhere (Dulk and Suzuki, 1979) we give a detailed description and include observations of source sizes, heights and brightness temperatures. Here we concentrate on the polarization of the bursts and the variation of polarization from centre to limb. The observed centre-to-limb decrease in polarization approximately follows a cosine law. This decrease is not as predicted by simple theory but is consistent with other observations which imply that open field lines from an active region diverge strongly. The observed o-mode polarization of harmonic radiation implies that the wave vectors of Langmuir waves are always parallel, within about 20°, to the magnetic field, while the constancy of H polarization with frequency implies that the ratio fB/fP, the Alfvén speed vA and the plasma beta are constant with height on the open field lines above an active region. Finally, we infer that some factor, in addition to the magnetic field strength, controls the polarization of F radiation.


1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Riddle

Scattering of radiation from solar radio sources by in homogeneities in the electron density structure of the corona can have marked effects on the observed time profile and the brightness distribution. These effects are appreciable for any localized source emitting a brief burst of radiation and are most pronounced when the radiation propagates close to the plasma level; it is such sources, illustrated here by those of type III bursts, that will be considered in this paper.


2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Thejappa ◽  
R. J. MacDowall

Abstract. Short wavelength ion sound waves (2-4kHz) are detected in association with the Langmuir waves (~15-30kHz) in the source regions of several local type III radio bursts. They are most probably not due to any resonant wave-wave interactions such as the electrostatic decay instability because their wavelengths are much shorter than those of Langmuir waves. The Langmuir waves occur as coherent field structures with peak intensities exceeding the Langmuir collapse thresholds. Their scale sizes are of the order of the wavelength of an ion sound wave. These Langmuir wave field characteristics indicate that the observed short wavelength ion sound waves are most probably generated during the thermalization of the burnt-out cavitons left behind by the Langmuir collapse. Moreover, the peak intensities of the observed short wavelength ion sound waves are comparable to the expected intensities of those ion sound waves radiated by the burnt-out cavitons. However, the speeds of the electron beams derived from the frequency drift of type III radio bursts are too slow to satisfy the needed adiabatic ion approximation. Therefore, some non-linear process such as the induced scattering on thermal ions most probably pumps the beam excited Langmuir waves towards the lower wavenumbers, where the adiabatic ion approximation is justified.


1972 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-543
Author(s):  
G. Berthomieu

It has been proposed by Smith that type III radio bursts may be produced by streams of protons with radius of the order of 7 km, which is of the same order as the characteristic lengths of the nonlinear processes which are supposed to take place in the dynamics of these bursts. In this paper, we consider a method for studying systems with finite transverse dimensions and apply it to a simple model: the scattering of a beam of plasma waves by acoustic turbulence and by the particles of the plasma.


1974 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 285-287
Author(s):  
D. B. Melrose

(Solar Phys.). The widely accepted emission mechanisms for type III bursts involve at least two stages. The first stage is the generation of Langmuir waves by the inferred stream of electrons. Emission at the fundamental frequency arises when these waves are scattered by thermal ions. Emission at the second harmonic arises when two Langmuir waves coalesce; however, the coalescence is possible only after an intermediate stage in which the distribution of Langmuir waves evolves towards isotropy due to scattering by thermal ions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document