Nonlinear regimes of the electron cyclotron drift instability in Vlasov simulations

Abstract

We report on a novel investigation of the nonlinear regime of the electron cyclotron drift instability, using a grid-based Vlasov simulation. It is shown that the instability occurs as a series of cyclotron resonances with the electron beam mode due to the E × B drift. In the nonlinear regime, we observe condensation of fluctuations energy toward the lowest resonance mode and below, i.e., an inverse energy cascade. It is shown that the characteristics of the nonlinear saturation state remain far from the ion-sound regime.