Quasilinear evolution of cyclotron maser instability

A quasilinear analysis of the relativistic electron cyclotron maser instability is presented. A background plasma is assumed to support the wave motion, while the instability is driven by a tenuous population of energetic electrons possessing a loss-cone feature. The analysis makes use of an efficient moment method. In this approach, evolution equations for the moments of particular distribution function are derived from the particle kinetic equation. Then, a self-similar model of the loss-cone electron distribution function is imposed. Simultaneously, the wave kinetic equation is solved. The resulting fully self-consistent set of equations that governs the evolution of the particles and unstable waves is solved numerically under physical parameters that represent typical solar microwave burst sources.