Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:30:15.991Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A comparative study of the instabilities of two classes of nonlinear waves in cold plasmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2009

F. J. Romeiras
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Plasma and Fusion Energy Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, U.S.A.
G. Rowlands
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.

Abstract

Results are presented of the stability analysis against small parallel perturbations of two classes of nonlinear waves in cold unmagnetized electron plasmas emphasizing similarities and differences. The first class is a stationary longitudinal wave set up by two counter-streaming cold electron beams; the second class is a mixed transverse-longitudinal standing wave in a relativistic plasma with a circularly polarized transverse electric field whose amplitude is periodically modulated in the longitudinal direction. The perturbation dispersion relations are discussed for all perturbation wavenumbers and all nonlinear wave amplitudes. Particular attention is given to the appearance of gaps in those dispersion relations.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bertrand, P., Feix, M. R. & Baumann, G. 1971 J. Plasma Phys. 6, 351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brillouin, L. 1953 Wave propagation in periodic structures. Dover.Google Scholar
Infeld, E. & Rowlands, G. 1975 J. Plasma Phys. 13, 173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kittel, C. 1976 Introduction to Solid State Physics. Wiley.Google Scholar
Marburger, J. H. & Tooper, R. F. 1975 Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 1001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romeiras, F. J. 1979 J. Plasma Phys. 22, 201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romeiras, F. J. 1982 J. Plasma Phys. 27, 239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romeiras, F. J. & Rowlands, G. 1985 J. Plasma Phys. 33, 285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowlands, G. 1969 J. Plasma Phys. 3, 567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar