The distant universe is opaque to γ radiation from blazars due to gamma-gamma attenuation with extragalactic background light. This process produces electron-positron pair beams that interact with the intergalactic medium and are unstable to linear instabilities, particularly the electrostatic and Weibel instabilities. The electrostatic instability grows faster and so determines the dissipation of the free energy of the beam. Here, we generalize the calculation of the electrostatic growth rate to a beam plasma system with a Maxwellian perpendicular momentum spread and allow for oblique propagation directions. We show that the growth rate for the oblique electrostatic mode has a maximum value that is even higher than for a cold beam or for one with a constant perpendicular momentum spread.
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