Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2009
The electrostatic lower-hybrid wave is shown to decay parametrically into a whistler wave and a resonant ion cyclotron mode or an ion cyclotron quasi-mode or a reactive quasi-mode. The convective threshold powers for these decay instabilities are found to be much larger than presently available pump powers. These decay instabilities, however, are expected to play an important role in the saturation of the parametrically excited short-wavelength lower-hybrid waves having frequency close to ωlh.