A kinetic analysis of the stimulated backscattering of an electromagnetic wave modified by the presence of a nearly monoenergetic electron beam is presented. The results of a numerical study of the effects of the beam on the growth rate and wavenumber locking are described. Electron beam-plasma systems are known to exist in the magnetosphere and can be created in fusion and other laboratory devices. Electromagnetic wave scattering may prove useful in detecting and analysing electron beams which occur in plasmas either naturally or by injection. In a recent paper (Willett and Aktas, 1983) the authors have investigated the effects of a warm electron beam on stimulated Brillouin backscattering in a plasma. Within the limits of fluid theory, the beam effects tend to increase with decreasing beam electron temperature. The purpose of this research note is to extend the study, by use of kinetic theory, to the case of a nearly monoenergetic electron beam.
Electron beam interaction with space plasmas