On linear coupling of acoustic and cyclotron waves in plasma flows

Abstract

It is found that in magnetized electrostatic plasma flows the velocity shear couples ion-acoustic waves with ion-cyclotron waves and leads, under favorable conditions, to their efficient reciprocal transformations. It is shown that in a two-dimensional setup this coupling has a remarkable feature: it is governed by equations that are exactly similar to the ones describing coupling of sound waves with internal gravity waves [Rogava & Mahajan: Phys. Rev. E vol.55, 1185 (1997)] in neutral fluid flows. Using another noteworthy quantum mechanical analogy we calculate transformation coefficients and give fully analytic, quantitative description of the coupling efficiency for flows with low shearing rates.

5 pages, no figures. Submitted to "Physics of Plasmas"