Simulation of ion-cyclotron-like modes in a magnetoplasma with transverse inhomogeneous electric field

Ion-cyclotron turbulence has been observed with shocks and double layers in the magnetosphere where strongly localized electric fields perpendicular to the magnetic field are present. Theoretical analysis suggests that electrostatic waves with frequencies of the order of the ion-cyclotron frequency can be destabilized as a result of the coupling of regions of positive and negative-energy ion waves. The nonlocal theory for a smooth profile of transverse inhomogeneous electric fields shows that localized ion waves grow in the region where the electric fields are present. Using a spatially two-dimensional electrostatic code, we investigate this instability in plasma conditions characterized by a localized transverse electric field L≪Lx, where Lx is the simulation length in the x direction; and distinguish it from the transverse kinetic Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. The simulation results show that the growing ion waves are associated with the small vortices in the linear state, which evolve into a nonlinear stage dominated by large vortices with lower frequencies.