Electrostatic mode excitation in electron holes due to wave bounce resonances.

A kinetic theory of resonant interaction between electrostatic waves and the bounce motion of electrostatically trapped electrons is developed. Precise criteria are derived for the stability of electrostatic potential structures which trap electrons in a highly magnetized plasma. The theory explains the energy transfer from electron phase space holes to waves observed in simulations. It may also account for the destabilization of electrostatic waves propagating obliquely to the geomagnetic field and some characteristics of the holes as observed in the auroral ionosphere.