Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

STEEPENING OF LARGE-AMPLITUDE ALFVEN WAVES

Journal Article · · Phys. and Rev. Letters
Steepening of the leading slopes of large-amplitude Alfven waves in a highly ionized plasma, resulting from increased distortions of the initial sinusoidal wave field, b/sub theta /, as points of larger b/sub theta / overtake the lower portions of the wave, is investigated. An expression for the ratio of the steepened wave front to the corresponding slope of the unsteepened wave, from which the steepening time is calculated, is given. The wave steepening is observed by probe measurements of partial delta b/sub theta // partial delta t and be and compared with calculated values. The experimental apparatus is shown. (L.B.S.)
Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Berkeley
NSA Number:
NSA-18-019166
OSTI ID:
4023445
Report Number(s):
UCRL-11174
Journal Information:
Phys. and Rev. Letters, Journal Name: Phys. and Rev. Letters Vol. Vol: 12
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Evolution of large amplitude Alfven waves in the solar wind with [beta]-1
Journal Article · Thu Nov 18 23:00:00 EST 1993 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States) · OSTI ID:5094710

Steepening of Alfven waves and its effect on the structure of slow shocks
Journal Article · Sun Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Geophysical Research Letters · OSTI ID:254542

Theory of large amplitude Alfven waves
Conference · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1973 · OSTI ID:4144211