Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 November 2013
Numerical simulations have been conducted to study the spatial growth rate and emission topology of the cyclotron-maser instability responsible for stellar/planetary auroral magnetospheric radio emission and intense non-thermal radio emission in other astrophysical contexts. These simulations were carried out in an unconstrained geometry, so that the conditions existing within the source region of some natural electron cyclotron masers could be more closely modelled. The results have significant bearing on the radiation propagation and coupling characteristics within the source region of such non-thermal radio emissions.