Determination of wave growth from measured distribution functions and transport theory

A stability analysis which directly uses particle distribution functions determined from experiments or transport theory, rather than model distributions, is carried out. The features of distribution functions relevant to whistlers, ion cyclotron waves, including their low-frequency extensions for propagation along the magnetic field, and to ion-acoustic waves are analyzed in detail. The dependence of wave growth on the precise shape of the distributions and the numerical feasibility of the method is demonstrated by the use of measured solar wind distributions. (author)