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Velocity-Space Diffusion in a Perpendicularly Propagating Electrostatic Wave

Charles F. F. Karney

physics.plasm-pharXiv:physics/0501035

Abstract

The motion of ions in the fields B = B0 zhat and E = E0 yhat cos(kperp y - omega t) is considered. When omega >> Omegai and vperp > omega/kperp, the equations of motion may be reduced to a set of difference equations. These equations exhibit stochastic behavior when E0 exceeds a threshold. The diffusion coefficient above the threshold is determined. Far above the threshold, ion Landau damping is recovered. Extension of the method to include parallel propagation is outlined.

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