Resonance Broadening in a Turbulent Plasma.
Abstract
Resonance between a wave and a particle in a uniform plasma can be defined by a general formula. In a turbulent plasma, however, this resonance defined is further broadened by virtue of particle diffusion in phase space. The purpose of the present note is to describe an intuitive classroom-level derivation, by means of which one could have estimated the width of the resonance without invoking a formal derivation. The intuitive approach makes instructive use of (a) the classical uncertainty principle and (b) the random-walk interpretation of diffusion, in placing convergent lower and uper bounds on the time interval during which a wave and a particle can interact coherently. The optimal interaction time thus obtained corresponds to the minimum bandwidth that can be assigned to the resonance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 14, 1975
- Accession Number
- ADA013693
Entities
People
- Michael Schulz
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation