Propagation and beam-plasma interactions of the EDI beam

An electron drift instrument (EDI), proposed for the Cluster mission, would measure electric fields, magnetic field gradients, and magnetic field strengths in the magnetospheric plasma. The experiments involve injecting two beams of test electrons into the magnetosphere perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. Forces due to the ambient electric and magnetic fields return the beams to two dedicated detectors on the spacecraft. For typical magnetospheric electric and magnetic fields and a beam energy of 1 keV, the electron gyroradius is on the order of kilometers, the gyroperiod is milliseconds, and the drift distance in one gyroperiod is a few meters. This paper reports on analyses of electron beam propagation and beam-plasma interaction for the EDI beams. 27 refs