The quantum effect on the Weibel instability in an unmagnetized plasma is presented. Our analysis shows that the quantum effect tends to stabilize the Weibel instability in the hydrodynamic regime, whereas it produces a new oscillatory instability in the kinetic regime. A novel effect called the quantum damping, which is associated with the Landau damping, is disclosed. The new quantum Weibel instability may be responsible for the generation of non-stationary magnetic fields in compact astrophysical objects as well as in the forthcoming intense laser–solid density plasma interaction experiments.

The nonlinear coupling between high-frequency surface plasmons (SPs) and low-frequency ion oscillations on metallic plasma surfaces with charged nanoparticles is considered. It is shown that a finite-amplitude SP wave is modulationally unstable against the excitation of non-resonant ion oscillations. The growth rates and thresholds of the modulational instabilities are presented.

Dispersion relations for elliptically polarized extraordinary as well as linearly polarized ordinary electromagnetic waves propagating across an external magnetic field in a dense magnetoplasma are derived, taking into account the combined effects of the quantum electrodynamical (QED) field, as well as the quantum forces associated with the Bohm potential and the magnetization energy of the electrons due to the electron-1/2 spin effect. The QED (vacuum polarization) effects, which contribute to the nonlinear electron current density, modify the refractive index. Our results concern the propagation characteristics of perpendicularly propagating high-frequency electromagnetic waves in dense astrophysical objects (e.g. neutron stars and magnetars), as well as the next-generation intense laser–solid density plasma interaction experiments and quantum free-electron laser schemes.

In this work we show that a repulsive force between nearby dust grains in a plasma can exist, due to scattering of the incident radiation. Two types of forces are discussed, one of them being formally identical to electrostatic repulsion. This leads to the definition of an effective dust charge of the dust grain, which only depends on the scattering process. Our discussion shows that such a repulsive interaction occurs in quite general physical conditions.

The equivalent charge of photons in dense unmagnetized and magnetized Fermi plasmas is determined through the plasma physics method. This charge is associated with the polarization of the medium caused by the ponderomotive force of the electromagnetic waves. Relations for the coupling between the electron plasma density perturbation and the radiation fields are derived for unmagnetized and magnetized plasmas, taking into account the quantum force associated with the quantum Bohm potential in dense Fermi plasmas. The effective photon charge is then determined. The effects of the ion motion are also included in the investigation.

Nonlinear quantum Hall-MHD equations for a warm dense magnetoplasma with an anisotropic electron pressure are derived. The nonlinear equations include the quantum force associated with electron tunneling effects. The newly found equations can be used to investigate the dense plasma stability, as well as different types of waves, instabilities, and nonlinear structures in a warm dense magnetoplasma.

The existence of localized ion waves in a dense quantum plasma is established. Specifically, ion solitary waves are stationary solutions of the equations composed of the nonlinear ion continuity and ion momentum equations, together with the Poisson equation and the inertialess electron momentum equation in which the electric force is balanced by the quantum force associated with the Bohm potential that causes electron tunneling at nanoscales. The solitary ion waves are characterized by a large-amplitude electrostatic potential and ion density maxima and smaller amplitude minima on the flanks of the solitary waves. We identify the speed interval for the existence of the ion solitary waves around a quantum Mach number that is of the order of unity.

It is shown that a nonlinear surface plasma wave at a plasma–vacuum interface can propagate in the form of a dark/grey envelope soliton. The latter is associated with a subsonic density cavity, which traps the complex surface wave electric field.

For coaxial Gaussian electromagnetic beams of equal width, a relation between the weighted sum of axial irradiances and the width of the beams, which corresponds to the propagation in a plasma, without convergence or divergence has been obtained in the paraxial approximation. The collisional (with and without thermal conduction), ponderomotive and relativistic nonlinearities have been separately considered in this investigation. The investigation has relevance to the study and application of multi-wave interaction phenomena such as the growth of combination frequencies, plasma beat wave acceleration and enhanced penetration in an overdense plasma.

The existence of Bernstein–Greene–Kruskal (BGK)-like trapped ion modes in dusty plasmas is investigated by means of the pseudo-potential method applied to the Vlasov–Poisson system. The nonlinear dispersion relation, determining the phase velocity, and the pseudo-potential, representing the wave form and hence its spectral decomposition, are derived and analysed with respect to the effect of dust. Dust is found to diminish the region in ω, k-space, where periodic wave solutions of fast and slow mode character exist. Localized wave solutions in the form of solitary ion holes, owing their existence to the presence of dust, coexist as well, but turn into slow ion acoustic double layers in the limit of vanishing dust.

A diagnostic neutral beam (DNB) is applied to measure the plasma ion temperature and rotation speed in the HT-7 tokamak. Also, a heating neutral beam (HNB) is suggested as an effective method of heating a plasma for the EAST tokamak. As a necessary step to evaluate the required beam power in both applications, the attenuation of the injected neutral beam has been numerically calculated and analyzed considering the effect of various plasma parameters, such as electron temperature, electron density, impurity concentration, and so on. Three basic atomic processes are considered here. It is shown that at the same electron density neutral beam particles can penetrate deeper at higher injection energies and a DNB with the same full energy can attenuate faster at higher electron densities. The impurity effect on the attenuation of a DNB is discussed, and the attenuation of a HNB on the EAST tokamak is also considered.

Large-amplitude electron plasma oscillations in a one-dimensional, cold electron plasma are investigated for a spatially varying, immobile ion density. The Eulerian variables are transformed to Lagrangian variables. The problem is then treated as an effective one-dimensional particle in a potential. Two examples of spatially varying ion densities that lead to analytic functions for the electron position, velocity and electric field are found by Gauss' law to have zero electron density, an unphysical result. A generic solution that includes the two examples is shown to have a spatially homogeneous ion density. A nonlinear ordinary differential equation is the condition for the appropriate form of the electron density and is solved by Lie group symmetries. A more general form of a solution is presented that possesses a spatially varying ion density, but when the necessary conditions are specified it has either zero electron density or secular terms in the electron density.

Test kinetic simulation results are presented for perpendicular collisionless shocks in magnetized plasmas that are representative of the Earth's bow shock. In this approach, particle kinetics are described by tracing particle trajectories in prescribed electromagnetic fields obtained in the MHD approximation, and applying Liouville's theorem. This provides a first-order description of particle dynamics in complex systems, given approximate fields obtained with a low-level description of the plasma. The method also provides a useful consistency check in assessing the validity of approximate solutions such as those obtained in the ideal MHD approximation. Compared with the more familiar test particle approach, in which trajectories of randomly injected particles are followed in time, the present approach has the advantage of being numerically more efficient, and producing results without statistical errors.

Plasma was first obtained successfully on the EAST Tokamak in the autumn of 2006. This was an ohmically heated plasma with rf-assisted pre-ionization for plasma startup. Many diagnostics systems were set up to satisfy the requirement for the description of basic plasma performance. Three hard X-ray detectors have been installed to monitor the runaway electrons with a tangential view into the plasma on the equatorial plane. A BGO (Bi4Ge3O12) scintillator installed in the forward direction was used to detect the hard X-ray emission in the energy range 0.5–7 MeV while two CdTe detectors in the backward and forward directions are used to detect the hard X-ray emission in the energy range 0.3-1.2 MeV. Phenomena observed with these detectors in different discharge conditions are presented here.

An electronic identity relation, relating capacitively coupled plasma sources to corresponding inductively coupled plasma sources, has been derived, starting from the Maxwell relations for matter and the characteristics of a capacitor and of an inductor. Furthermore, the breakdown conditions for both capacitively coupled plasmas and for inductively coupled plasmas as well as their optimal operation frequency ranges are discussed.

The nonlinear dynamics of magnetic electron drift mode turbulence are outlined and the generation of large-scale magnetic structures in a non-uniform magnetized plasma by turbulent Reynolds stress is demonstrated. The loop-back of large-scale flows on the microturbulence is elucidated and the modulation of the electron drift mode turbulence spectrum in a medium with slowly varying parameters is presented. The wave kinetic equation in the presence of large-scale flows is derived and it can be seen that the small-scale turbulence and the large-scale structures form a self-regulating system. Finally, it is shown by the use of quasilinear theory that the shearing of microturbulence by the flows can be described by a diffusion equation in k-space and the corresponding diffusion coefficients are calculated.

A non-local theory is used to study the effects of the corrugation parameter ε of a plasma-filled slow wave structure, the cyclotron frequency of a pumped magnetic field Ω and the relativistic gamma factor γ0 on the instability growth Γ of a free electron laser in the presence of an external finite axial magnetic field. The dispersion relation is derived and the growth rate is formulated in the Raman regime. The growth rate is approximately proportional to ε. There is a considerable decrease in the instability growth when the cyclotron frequency is close to ω0. The growth rate approximately scales inversely as the 19/2 power of the relativistic gamma factor.

Low-frequency fluctuations are observed in a plasma confined by a strong dipole magnet and containing an energetic high-pressure population of trapped electrons. The quasi-coherent fluctuations have frequencies characteristic of drift frequencies of the lower temperature background plasma and have large toroidal and radial extent. They are excited throughout a wide range of plasma conditions determined by the level of neutral gas pressure. However, for a sufficiently high rate of neutral gas fueling, the plasma density profile flattens and the fluctuations disappear.

In this paper we numerically investigate the effects of various geometrical parameters of a backward wave oscillator (BWO), filled with a magnetized plasma of uniform density and driven by a mild relativistic solid electron beam, on the instability growth rate (Γ) of a free electron laser (FEL). The FEL instability is numerically calculated and the result is compared with the instability growth rate of an annular electron beam for the same set of parameters. The instability growth for a solid electron beam scales inversely to the seventh power of relativistic gamma factor γ0 and directly proportional to the corrugation amplitude.

By calculating the dielectric permittivity of a magnetoactive plasma discharge in the presence of an external electric field, low-frequency instabilities resulting from the dependency of the electron-neutral collision frequency, electron-ion recombination coefficient and ionization frequency on the electron temperature are investigated. Furthermore, it is shown that some of these instabilities depend on the sign change of the derivative of the kinetic coefficients with respect to the electron temperature. Finally, it is shown how frequency spectra and the development of instabilities are changed by increasing the strength of the external magnetic field.