  Langmuir cavitons have been artificially produced in the earth's ionosphere,
but evidence of naturally-occurring cavitation has been elusive. By measuring
and modeling the spectra of electrostatic plasma modes, we show that natural
cavitating, or strong, Langmuir turbulence does occur in the ionosphere, via a
process in which a beam of auroral electrons drives Langmuir waves, which in
turn produce cascading Langmuir and ion-acoustic excitations and cavitating
Langmuir turbulence. The data presented here are the first direct evidence of
cavitating Langmuir turbulence occurring naturally in any space or
astrophysical plasma.

Space Physics