NONLINEAR THEORY OF PLASMA OSCILLATIONS

Abstract

The nonlinear properties of electrostatic waves in a uniform, zero-temperature plasma free from magnetic field is investigated by two independent perturbation procedures. The first of these is the derivative-expansion technique, applied to the Lagrangian variable formalism. The second is a canonical-transformation procedure based on a Hamiltonian description. Both procedures lead to the same formula for the dominant (four wave) interaction process. If the spectrum is one-dimensional, the wave interaction vanishes. In general, the effect of wave interactions may be divided into 'coherent' and 'incoherent' contributions. The former leads to a frequency displacement which may be characterized by a dispersion relation. This is evaluated for a test wave in a thermally excited plasma and found to be of the standard form. The study of incoherent interaction is postponed for a subsequent article.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1962
Accession Number
AD0404797

Entities

People

  • Peter A. Sturrock

Organizations

  • Stanford University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Corporations
  • Dispersion Relations
  • Dispersions
  • Displacement
  • Frequency
  • Inventions
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Oscillation
  • Perturbations
  • Plasma Oscillation
  • Specifications
  • Spectra
  • Standards
  • Virginia

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics