Correlation function ratios and the identification of space plasma instabilities

Wave‐particle transport in a collisionless plasma is due to particle scattering by enhanced fluctuations associated with the growth of instabilities. In particular, relatively short wavelength kinetic instabilities are frequently invoked to explain many different types of plasma transport in space. Although there is an extensive theoretical and simulation literature describing the potential applications of many such instabilities, there are only a few cases of clear‐cut identification of kinetic modes in space. The research described in this paper uses linear Vlasov dispersion theory to study correlation functions and dimensionless correlation function ratios for fluctuations or instabilities in three space plasma regimes. This research shows that both the compressibility and the parallel compressibility are likely to be useful in distinguishing modes in the magnetosheath as well as in the plasma sheet boundary layer and that helicity remains a useful identifier of electromagnetic ion/ion instabilities in the foreshock.