ANGEO Annales Geophysicae ANGEO Ann. Geophys. 1432-0576 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/angeo-29-1997-2011 Quasi-linear dynamics of Weibel instability Pokhotelov O. A. 1 Amariutei O. A. 2 Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK Finnish Meteorological Institute, Geophysical Research Division P.O. Box 503 00101 Helsinki, Finland 04 11 2011 29 11 1997 2001 Copyright: © 2011 O. A. Pokhotelov 2011 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/29/1997/2011/angeo-29-1997-2011.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/29/1997/2011/angeo-29-1997-2011.pdf

The quasi-linear dynamics of resonant Weibel mode is discussed. It is found that nonlinear saturation of Weibel mode is accompanied by substantial modification of the distribution function in resonant region. With the growth of the wave amplitude the parabolic bell-like form of the electron distribution function in this region converts into flatter shape, such as parabola of the fourth order. This results in significant weakening of the resonant interaction of the wave with particles. The latter becomes weaker and then becomes adiabatic interaction with the bulk of the plasma. This is similar to the case of Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (Bernstein et al., 1957) electrostatic waves. The mathematical similarity of the Weibel and magnetic mirror instabilities is discussed.

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