Inertial Alfven waves in an inhomogeneous bi-Maxwellian plasma

The Vlasov kinetic equation is solved using gyrokinetic theory and the dielectric tensor for non-relativistic, magnetized, bi-Maxwellian plasmas is calculated. A generalized dispersion relation for kinetic Alfven waves is derived taking into account the density inhomogeneity and temperature anisotropy. The modified dispersion relation thus obtained is then used to examine the propagation characteristics of the kinetic Alfven waves in the inertial regime. The importance of density inhomogeneity and temperature anisotropy for Solar corona is highlighted. The growth rate of the inertial Alfven wave proves that density inhomogeneity acts as a source of free energy.     

Neutrino beam plasma instability

We derive relativistic fluid set of equations for neutrinos and electrons from relativistic Vlasov equations with Fermi weak interaction force. Using these fluid equations, we obtain a dispersion relation describing neutrino beam plasma instability, which is little different from normal dispersion relation of streaming instability. It contains new, nonelectromagnetic, neutrino-plasma (or electroweak) stable and unstable modes also. The growth of the instability is weak for the highly relativistic neutrino flux, but becomes stronger for weakly relativistic neutrino flux in the case of parameters appropriate to the early universe and supernova explosions. However, this mode is dominant only for the beam velocity greater than 0.25c and in the other limit electroweak unstable mode takes over.     

Jeans-Buneman instability in a dusty plasma

A self consistent formulation of the Jeans instability of a dusty plasma with proper inclusion of charge dynamics is described. It is shown that charge fluctuations significantly affect the Jeans as well as the Buneman mode. For plasma particles (electrons and ions) in local thermal equilibrium, the Jeans lengthλ _J is given byλ _J≈λ _g F(R, ε, β/η), whereλ _g is the Debye length of the charged grains,R is the square of the ratio of the Jeans to the plasma frequency of the grains,ε is the square of the ratio of the Debye length of the grains and the plasma particles andβ/η is the ratio of the attachment to the decay frequency of the electronic charges to the grain surface. The functional form ofF is given in the text. Numerical investigation of the Jeans-Buneman mode for a two and three component plasma shows that the Jeans mode dominates atkλ _D≪1 (wherek is the wave number andλ _D is the Debye length of plasma particles), whereas atkλ _D≫1 only the Buneman mode operates. Charge fluctuations reduce the area of overlap of the two modes. Furthermore, in the absence of gravity, there exists a new, charge fluctuation induced unstable mode in a streaming dusty plasma. Astrophysical applications of the results are discussed.     

Collisional effects on the current-filamentation instability in a dense plasma

The collisional current-filamentation instability (CFI) is studied for a nonrelativistic electron beam penetrating an infinite uniform plasma. It is analytically shown that the CFI is driven by the drift-anisotropy rather than the classical anisotropy of the beam and the background plasma. Therefore, collisional effects can either attenuate or enhance the CFI depending on the drift-anisotropy of the beam-plasma system. Numerical results are given for some typical parameters, which show that collisional effects cannot stabilize but enhance the CFI in a dense plasma. Thus, the CFI may play a dominant role in the fast electron transport and deposition relevant to the fast ignition scenario (FIS).     

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a rotating ideally conducting inhomogeneous plasma

The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in sheared magnetohydrodynamic flow of an ideally conducting rotating inhomogeneous compressible plasma is investigated. The asymptotic behaviour inx of the Kelvin-Helmholtz eigenfunctions for the case of finite compressibility in the presence of rotation is discussed and instability condition is derived. In the incompressible limit, a dispersion relation is derived which has been solved numerically and discussed in detail. It is found that the inhomogeneous system is unstable in an incompressible plasma.     

Impact-ionized electron-hole plasma instability in GaAs

The possibility of the excitation of impact-ionized electron-hole plasma oscillatory instability in GaAs with frequency up to 10¹² Hz is shown. The linear and nonlinear stages of the instability are investigated.     

On the theory of instabilities arising at quark-gluon plasma formation

Collisions of two degenerate quark Fermi liquids are studied. It is shown that there arise instabilities, which manifest themselves in propagation of growing oscillations corresponding to the modes existing in a Fermi liquid at rest. Quark jets are likely to appear in the directions of the growing oscillations propagation.

The instabilities studied in this work are similar to the beam instability in ordinary electron plasma.     

Nonlinear distribution function for a plasma obeying Vlasov-Maxwell system of equations

The nonlinear distribution function of Allis, generalised to include the transverse electromagnetic waves in a plasma, is used to set up the coupled wave equations for the longitudinal and the transverse modes. These are solved, keeping terms up to the cubic order of nonlinearity, by using the method of multiple scales. The equations of wave modulation are derived, which are solved to discuss the nature of the modulational instability and solitary wave propagation. It is found that the solutions so obtained satisfy conditions which are very similar to the well known Lighthill criterion for stability, appropriately modified due to the coupling of the two modes. The role of the average constant current due to any flow of the resonant and trapped electrons in determining the stability, is also discussed.     

Light scattering studies of the ion acoustic instability in a positive column plasma

Light scattering is used to study the amplitude, spectrum, and angular distribution of the saturated state of the ion acoustic instability in a He positive column plasma. The ion acoustic waves are driven unstable by the electron current in the column. The properties of the saturated state are studied as a function of the concentration of hydrogen impurities which are found to be present in positive column plasmas. At concentrations of a few percent, the hydrogen ions can cause linear wave damping. Their role in saturating the instability by nonlinear processes is studied by varying the hydrogen concentration.     

Nonlinear Kelvin–Helmholtz instability of magnetized surface waves on a subsonic gas–viscous potential liquid interface

A nonlinear stability analysis, of magnetic fluids, was carried out for interfacial waves between a subsonic inviscid gas and viscous streaming liquid when a normal constant magnetic field is present. The viscosity term in the problem was carried out using the viscous potential theory. The nonlinear analysis results nonlinear partial differential equations, for different cases, using multiple scales method. Using the modulation concept, we have discussed different numerical examples to show the effects of the system parameters on criteria of the interfacial waves (in)stability.     

The instability of electrostatic wave in a magnetized dusty plasma with nonadiabatic dust charge fluctuation

The effects of external magnetized field and nonadiabatic dust charge fluctuation on instability of wave incorporating the nonthermally distributed ions and the temperatures of ion and dust in dusty plasmas are investigated. A linear dispersion relation is obtained. The numerical results show that the external magnetized field, fast ions and nonadiabatic dust charge fluctuation have strong influence on the frequency and the damping of wave.     

Surface instability of a current carrying plasma under the influence of a high frequency electric field

Surface instability of a collisionless semi-infinite current carrying plasma is studied. The semi-infinite plasma bounded by a plane surface is under the influence of a high frequency (hf) field. There are two classes of surface modes. One is a normal extension of zero high frequency field and the other due entirely to the presence ofhf field. As expected, with the increase in thehf field, the growth rates of the surface instabilities decrease. There are regions defined by the electron drift velocityu where the unstable surface and bulk regions overlap. The interesting result is that unlike the bulk plasma, there is a stable region on theu-axis flanked by two unstable regions. The width of this stable region increases with the increase in the field strength.     

Kinetic theory of time correlation functions for a dense one-component plasma in a magnetic field

The time-dependent correlations of a one-component plasma in a uniform magnetic field are studied with the help of kinetic theory. The time correlation functions of the particle density, the momentum density, and the kinetic energy density are evaluated for large time intervals. In the collision-dominated regime the results agree with those found from linearized magnetohydrodynamics.     

Finite Larmor radius and Hall effects on thermal instability of a compressible plasma

The effects of compressibility, finite Larmor radius (FLR) and Hall currents are considered on the thermal instability of a plasma in the presence of a uniform horizontal magnetic field. For stationary convection, the compressibility has a stabilizing effect whereas FLR and Hall currents have stabilizing as well as destabilizing effects. For (C _pβ/g)<1, the system is stable. The magnetic field, FLR and Hall currents introduce oscillatory modes in the system for (C _pβ/g)>1.     

Nonlinear-driven instability of dynamical plasma in solids: Emergence of spatially self-organized order and chaotic-like behavior

We analyze in detail the nonlinear kinetics of a carrier system in a photoinjected plasma in semiconductors under the action of constant illumination with ultraviolet light. We show that the spatially homogeneous steady-state becomes unstable, and a charge density wave emerges after a critical intensity of the incident radiation is achieved. It is shown that this instability can only follow in doped p-type materials. In bulk systems the critical intensity was found to be too high making the phenomenon not observable under realistic experimental conditions. However, a more efficient electron excitation can be obtained in low dimensional p-type systems, like some molecular and biological polymers, where the interaction may follow by chemical interaction with the medium. We show that for intensities beyond the critical threshold an increasing number of modes provide further contributions (subharmonics) to the space inhomogeneity. It is conjectured that this process could lead the system to display chaotic-like behavior. Received 8 July 1998 and Received in final form 6 May 1999     

Modulational instability of electron-acoustic waves in a plasma with a q-nonextensive electron velocity distribution

The amplitude modulation of electron-acoustic waves (EAWs) propagating in space plasmas whose constituents are inertial cold electrons, hot nonextensive q-distributed electrons, and stationary ions is presented theoretically. The nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) which governs the modulational instability of the EAWs is obtained using reductive perturbation method (RPM). The presence of the hot nonextensive q-distributed electrons is shown to influence the modulational instability of the waves. Further, the nondimensional parameter α=ne0/nc0, which is the equilibrium density ratio of the hot to cold electron component, is shown to play a vital role in the formation of both bright and dark solitons.     

Kinetic properties of an acoustic-like mode in a two-ion quasi-neutral plasma

Kinetic analysis of an acoustic-like mode in a plasma with hot and cold ion components has been carried out. Under the short wevelength approximation (kλ _De≫1), electrons are assumed to form a dynamic neutralising background and their contribution to the perturbation is neglected. The significant role of the hot ions to Landau damping of the acoustic-like mode is highlighted and a novel concept of plasma experiment is suggested.     

Geodesic mode instability driven by the electron current in tokamak plasmas

Effect of the parallel electron current on Geodesic Acoustic Modes (GAM) in a tokamak is analyzed by kinetic theory taking into the account the ion Landau damping and diamagnetic drifts. It is shown that the electron current modeled by shifted Maxwell distribution may overcome the phase velocity threshold and ion Landau damping thus resulting in the GAM instability when the parallel electron current velocity is larger than the effective parallel GAM phase velocity Rqω. The instability occurs due to its cross term of the current with the ion diamagnetic drift. Possible applications to tokamak experiments are discussed.