Nonlinear dynamics of a driven mode near marginal stability

Journal Article · Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1996 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.76.1256· OSTI ID:284531

Berk, H L; Breizman, B N; Pekker, M ^[1]

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1. Institute for Fusion Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

The nonlinear dynamics of a linearly unstable mode in a driven kinetic system is investigated to determine the saturated fields near the instability threshold. To leading order, this problem reduces to an integral equation with a temporally nonlocal cubic term. Its solution can exhibit self-similar behavior with a blowup in a finite time. When blowup occurs, the mode saturates due to plateau formation arising from particle trapping in the wave. Otherwise, the simplified equation gives a regular solution that leads to a saturation scaling reflecting the closeness to the instability threshold. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

• Research Organization: University of Texas
• DOE Contract Number: FG05-80ET53088
• OSTI ID: 284531
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 76, Issue 8; Other Information: PBD: Feb 1996
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION
PLASMA INSTABILITY
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
DYNAMICS
INTEGRAL EQUATIONS
TRAPPING
SCALING