Date of Graduation

2001

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

Committee Chair

E. E. Scime

Abstract

The linearized dispersion relation describing waves in a plasma having a uniform magnetic field, uniform density, and inhomogeous parallel (to the magnetic field) flow [G. Ganguli, M.J. Keskinen, H. Romero, R. Heelis, T. Moore, and C. Pollock, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 8873 (1994)] is generalized to include thermal anisotropy, a key feature existing in many space and laboratory plasmas. The effects of ion thermal anisotropy on the ion acoustic mode is examined. The growth rate of the ion acoustic mode is shown to increase with TT ii ^ P , and the real frequency at which the maximum growth rate occurs is shown to upshift significantly. The angle that an ion acoustic wave propagates is also shown to depend on TT ii ^ P . A limited examination of the effects of ion thermal anisotropy on the ion cyclotron mode is presented. The growth rate of the ion cyclotron mode in the presence of inhomogeneous flow is shown to increase with TT ii ^ P and the real frequency is not significantly affected. Also presented is a generalized calculation of perturbed distribution functions [Sarfaty, M., S. DeSouza Machado, F. Skiff, Phys. Plasmas, 3, 4316, (1996); Skiff, F., IEEE Transactions of Plasma Science, 20, 701 (1992)] to include shear in field-aligned flow. Without shear, the first order perturbed distribution as a function of vP is independent of the orientation of the wavevector in the plane perpendicular to the background magnetic field. A method of determining the wavevector components present in a plasma with shear in the parallel flow is suggested.

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