Effectivity of the modified two stream instability operating in the vicinity of Venus

Abstract This paper is devoted to the application of the modified two stream or cross current instability (MTSI) to the interaction of the solar wind and Venus. Two scenarios are presented providing favorable conditions for the excitation of the instability. For the first scenario, the free energy source of the MTSI is a significant gradient drift of the solar wind protons near the subsolar ionopause. The corresponding growth rates and frequencies of the MTSI are calculated within a full electromagnetic approach for a two-component plasma. The driving source of the second considered scenario consists in the relative drift velocity between solar wind and planetary particles. For modelling this situation, the dispersion equation for a four-component plasma is solved numerically.