Rapid decay of nonlinear whistler waves in two dimensions: Full particle simulation

The decay of a nonlinear, short-wavelength, and monochromatic electromagnetic whistler wave is investigated by utilizing a two-dimensional (2D) fully relativistic electromagnetic particle-in-cell code. The simulation is performed under a low-beta condition in which the plasma pressure is much lower than the magnetic pressure. It has been shown that the nonlinear (large-amplitude) parent whistler wave decays through the parametric instability in a one-dimensional (1D) system. The present study shows that there is another channel for the decay of the parent whistler wave in 2D, which is much faster than in the timescale of the parametric decay in 1D. The parent whistler wave decays into two sideband daughter whistlers propagating obliquely with respect to the ambient magnetic field with a frequency close to the parent wave and two quasi-perpendicular electromagnetic modes with a frequency close to zero via a 2D decay instability. The two sideband daughter oblique whistlers also enhance a nonlinear longitudinal electrostatic wave via a three-wave interaction as a secondary process.