A bump-on-tail unstable reduced velocity distribution has been constructed from data obtained at the upstream boundary of the electron foreshock by the GSFC electron spectrometer experiment on the ISEE 1 satellite. This distribution is used as the initial plasma state for a numerical integration of the one-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell system of equations. The integration is carried through the growth of the instability, beyond its saturation, and well into the stabilized plasma regime. A power spectrum for the electric field of the stabilized plasma is computed. The spectrum is dominated by a narrow peak at the Bohm-Gross frequency of the unstable field mode but it also contain significant power at the harmonics of the Bohm-Gross frequency. The harmonic power is in sharp peaks which are split into closely spaced doublets. The fundamental peak at the Bohm-Gross frequency is also split, in this case into a closely space triplet. The fundamental peak at the Bohm-Gross frequency is also split, in this case into a closely space triplet. The splitting is due to slow modulations of the stabilized electric field oscillations which, it is thought, are caused by wave-particle trapping. The wavelength of mth harmonic of the Bohm-Gross frequency is given by &lgr;u/m, where &lgr;u is the wavelength of the unstable mode. The mechanism for excitation of the second harmonic is shwn to be second-order wave-wave coupling which takes place during that period in the evolution of the instability which would otherwise be called the linear growth phase. It is conjectured that the higher harmonics are excited by the same mechanism. It is further argued that harmonic excitation at the boundary of the electron foreshock should be a common occurrence. |