The Ion Acoustic Instability in the Helium Positive Column,

Abstract

The theory of ion acoustic instability of the helium positive column in the pressure regime 0.050 to 0.250 Torr is developed, examined, and tested experimentally. Instability of the column is predicted by a kinetic theory which includes the effect of collisions with neutrals, but not by hydrodynamic theory. In the regime of the experiment, the ion acoustic instability is due to the resonant interaction of those electrons with velocities near the phase velocities of the ion acoustic waves (inverse Landau damping) even though the electron-neutral collision frequency exceeds the ion acoustic frequency. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1972
Accession Number
AD0745399

Entities

People

  • David Bentley Fenneman

Organizations

  • University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Frequencies
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Collisions
  • Electrons
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Shift
  • Instability
  • Kinetic Theory
  • Phase Velocity
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics