Return-current-driven instabilities of propagating electron beams

Technical Report · Fri Mar 05 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:7057468

Uhm, H S; Lampe, M

A stability analysis is performed for the first nine transverse modes (azimuthal mode number plus radial mode number < or = 3) of a self-pinched relativistic electron beam propagating in a collisional plasma. Only frequencies omega in the range omega tau sub d << 1 are considered, where tau sub d is the dipole magnetic decay length. For such modes, the presence of plasma return current is the only destabilizing mechanism. Paraxial flow, space charge neutrality, and a flat radial profile of beam density are also assumed. Within these limitations an exact analysis of the linearized Vlasov stability problem is carried out in closed form. For each mode, the instability threshold, growth rate, and conditions for oscillatory vs. pure growth are determined. For beams with a moderate return current fraction, the hose, sausage and axial hollowing modes appear to be particularly dangerous.

• Research Organization: Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7057468
• Report Number(s): AD-A-111911/4; NRL-MR-4767
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700107* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Instabilities
BEAM-PLASMA SYSTEMS
BEAMS
BOLTZMANN-VLASOV EQUATION
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTRON BEAMS
EQUATIONS
INSTABILITY
INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES
LEPTON BEAMS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PLASMA
PLASMA INSTABILITY