Quasi-thermal noise in a drifting plasma: Theory and application to solar wind diagnostic on Ulysses

The present paper provides the basic principles and analytic expressions of the quasi-thermal noise spectroscopy extended to measure the plasma bulk speed, as a tool for in situ space plasma diagnostics. This method is based on the analysis of the electrostatic field spectrum produced by the quasi-thermal fluctuations of the electrons and by the Doppler-shifted thermal fluctuations of the ions; it requires a sensitive radio receiver connected to an electric wire dipole antenna. Neglecting the plasma bulk speed, the technique has been routinely used in the low-speed solar wind, and it gives accurate measurements of the electron density and core temperature, in addition to estimates of parameters of the hot electron component. The present generalization of the method takes into account the plasma speed and thereby improves the thermal electron temperature diagnostic. The technique, which is relatively immune to spacecraft potential and photoelectron perturbations, is complementary to standard electrostatic analysers. Application to the radio receiver data from the Ulysses spacecraft yields an accurate plasma diagnostic. Comparisons of these results with those deduced from the particle analyser experiment on board Ulysses are presented and discussed.