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

Two-dimensional electrostatic E Vector x B Vector trapping

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5872844· OSTI ID:5872844

The nonlinear motion of a charged particle in a uniformly magnetized, two-dimensional plasma is analyzed in the presence of finite amplitude electrostatic waves traveling in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. In a strongly magnetized plasma, no particle trapping occurs in a single electrostatic traveling wave of arbitrary amplitude, since the induced E Vector x B Vector motion is orthogonal to the direction of wave propagation. However, particle orbits can be trapped when there are at least two mutually orthogonal components of the electrostatic field with finite wave amplitude E/sub perpendicular/B greater than or equal to ..omega../k/sub perpendicular/ such that a particle drifts one wavelength in a wave period. This threshold amplitude for strong nonlinear behavior coincides with and helps to explain the many-wave turbulence criterion for the onset of particle diffusion in a two-dimensional plasma.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-26
OSTI ID:
5872844
Report Number(s):
ORNL/TM-6948
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Two-dimensional electrostatic E x B trapping
Journal Article · Fri Feb 29 23:00:00 EST 1980 · Phys. Fluids; (United States) · OSTI ID:5455906

Zero-frequency ion ring instability
Journal Article · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985 · Phys. Fluids; (United States) · OSTI ID:5692888

Electrostatic trapping and the linear and nonlinear evolution of dissipative trapped electron instabilities
Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1976 · Phys. Fluids; (United States) · OSTI ID:7278675