  The electrostatic decay enables energy transfer from a finite amplitude
Langmuir to a backscattered daughter Langmuir wave and ion acoustic density
fluctuations. This mechanism is thought to be a first step for the generation
of type III solar radio emissions at twice the plasma frequency. The
electrostatic decay is here investigated through Vlasov-Poisson simulations by
considering Langmuir localized wave packets in the case Te = Tp. Simulation
results are found to be in good agreement with recently reported observations
from the STEREO mission of the electrostatic decay of beam-driven Langmuir
waves during a type III burst.
