Return current instability and its effects on beam-plasma system

The return current induced in a plasma by a relativisitc electron beam generates a new electron-ion two-stream instability (return current instability). Although the effect of these currents on the beam-plasma e-e instability is negligible, there exists a range of wave numbers which is unstable only to return current (RC) instability and not to e-e instability. The electromagnetic waves propagating along the direction of the external magnetic field, in which the plasma is immersed, are stabilized by these currents but the e.m. waves with frequencies,ω ²≪Ω _e ² ≪ω _pe ² (Ω _e andω _pe being cyclotron and plasma frequency for the electrons of the plasma respectively) propagating transverse to the magnetic field get destabilized. Heuristic estimates of plasma heating, due to RC instability and due to decay of ion-acoustic turbulence generated by the return current, are made. The fastest time scale on which the return current delivers energy to the plasma due to the scattering of ion-sound waves by the electrons can be ∼ω _pi ⁻¹ (ω _pi being the plasma frequency for the ions).     

Microwave induced magnetoresistance oscillations at the subharmonics of the cyclotron resonance

The magnetoresistance oscillations that occur in a two-dimensional electron system exposed to strong microwave radiation when the microwave frequency ω coincides with the nth subharmonic of the cyclotron frequency ω _c have been investigated for n = 2, 3, and 4. It is shown that these subharmonic features can be explained within a nonequilibrium energy distribution function picture without invoking multiphoton absorption processes. The existence of a frequency threshold above which such oscillations disappear lends further support to this explanation. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Magneto-intersubband zener tunneling in a wide GaAs quantum well at high filling factors

The dependence of the differential resistance r _xx on the dc current density J _dc in a wide GaAs quantum well with two occupied size quantization subbands has been investigated at the temperature T = 4.2 K in the magnetic fields B < 1 T. A peak, whose position is given by the relation 2R _c eE _H = ħω_c/2, where R _c is the cyclotron radius, E _H is the Hall electric field, and ω_c is the cyclotron frequency, has been observed in the r _xx (J _dc) curves at high filling factors. The experimental results are attributed to Zener tunneling of electrons between the Landau levels of different subbands.     

Resonance microwave photoresistance of a two-subband electron system at large filling factors

The microwave photoresistance of a double GaAs quantum well with two occupied size-quantization sub-bands E ₁ and E ₂ has been studied at the temperatures T = 1.6–4.2 K in the magnetic fields B < 0.5 T. The microwave photoresistance of such a system has been found to have a maximum amplitude when the maximum of the magneto-intersubband oscillations with the number k = (E ₂ − E ₁)ℏω_c coincides with the maximum or minimum of the ω/ω_c oscillations, where ω is the microwave frequency and ω_c is the cyclotron frequency. It has been shown that the resonance photoresistance that appears in the kth maximum of the magneto-intersubband oscillations is determined by the condition ℏω/(E ₂ − E ₁) = (j ± 0.2)/k, where k and j are positive integers.     

Zero differential resistance in a double quantum well at high filling factors

The differential resistance r _xx in a GaAs double quantum well with two occupied size-quantization subbands have been studied at temperatures T = 1.6–4.2 K in magnetic fields B < 0.5 T. It has been found that differential resistance r _xx vanishes at the maxima of magneto-intersubband oscillations with an increase in the direct current I _dc. It has been shown that the discovered r _xx ≈ 0 state appears under the condition 2R _c E _H/ħω_c < 1/2, where R _c is the cyclotron radius of electrons at the Fermi level, E _H is the Hall electric field induced by the current I _dc, and ω_c is the cyclotron frequency.     

Submillimetric cyclotron resonance linewidths and electron relaxation time in copper

For the first time submillimetric microwaves (λ<1 mm) are used to observe Azbel' Kaner cyclotron resonance in metals. The very high frequency used (typicallyF≅400 GHz) gives a large value ofωτ (typically 500) and therefore very sharp peaks. The fundamental resonance fieldH _c=m ^* cω/e is rather high (typically 200 KG), so subharmonicsH _c/n can be observed at many values ofH in the field region 0–27 KG. If relatively few electrons participate in the resonance and ifω _cτ≧50 (ω _c=eH/m ^* c,τ relaxation time) thenChambers has shown that the line shapes are independent of relaxation time while the fractional linewidthΔH/H varies as l/ωτ. For the belly orbit in pure copper the conditions of Chambers' theory are satisfied forH≧20 KG parallel to [111] axis.m ^* is a minimum andτ=1.8×10⁻¹⁰ s.     

Dissipative Cyclotron Motion of a Charged Quantum-Oscillator and Third Law

In this work, low temperature thermodynamic behavior in the context of cyclotron motion of a charged-oscillator with different coupling schemes is analyzed. We find that finite dissipation substitutes the zero-coupling result of exponential decay of entropy by a power law behavior at low temperature. The power of the power law explicitly depends on the nature of the power spectrum of the heat bath. It is seen that velocity–velocity coupling is the most advantageous coupling scheme to ensure the third law of thermodynamics. The cases of confinement (ω ₀≠0) and without confinement (ω ₀=0) are discussed separately. It is also revealed that different thermodynamic functions are independent of magnetic field at very low temperature for ω ₀≠0, but they depend on cyclotron frequency (ω _c =eB/mc) for ω ₀=0.     

Is the Abrikosov model applicable for describing electronic vortices in plasmas?

A new model of electronic vortices in plasma is studied. The model assumes that the profile of the Lagrangian invariant I, equal to the ratio I=Ω/n of the electronic vorticity to the electron density, is given. The proposed approach takes into account the magnetic Debye scale r _B ≃B/4πen, which leads to breakdown of plasma quasineutrality. It is shown that the Abrikosov singular model cannot be used to describe electron vortices in plasmas because of the fundamental limitation on the electron vorticity on the axis of a vortex in a plasma. Analysis of the equations shows that in the model considered for the electronic vorticity, the total magnetic flux decreases when the size r ₀ of the region in which I≠0 becomes less than c/ω_pe (ω_pe is the electron plasma frequency). For ω _pe r ₀/c≪1, an electronic vortex is formed in which the magnetic flux decreases as r ₀ ² and the inertial component predominates in the electronic vorticity. The structure arising as ω _pe r ₀/c⇒0 is a narrow “hole” in the electron density, which can be identified from the spectrum of electromagnetic waves in this region. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 7, 461–466 (10 April 1998)     

Low-frequency fluctuations in a pure toroidal magnetized plasma

A magnetized, low-β plasma in pure toroidal configuration is formed and extensively studied with ion mass as control parameter. Xenon, krypton and argon plasmas are formed at a fixed toroidal magnetic field of 0.024 T, with a peak density of ∼10¹¹ cm⁻³, ∼4 × 10¹⁰ cm ⁻³ and ∼2 × 10¹⁰ cm ⁻³ respectively. The experimental investigation of time-averaged plasma parameter reveals that their profiles remain insensitive to ion mass and suggests that saturated slab equilibrium is obtained. Low-frequency (LF) coherent fluctuations (ω < ω _ci) are observed and identified as flute modes. Here ω _ci represents ion cyclotron frequency. Our results indicate that these modes get reduced with ion mass. The frequency of the fluctuating mode decreases with increase in the ion mass. Further, an attempt has been made to discuss the theory of flute modes to understand the relevance of some of our experimental observations.     

Features of the dispersion characteristics of nonuniform plasma waveguides in a longitudinal magnetic field

We study the features of the dispersion curves and field structures of the fundamental axisymmetric mode of nonuniform layered plasma waveguides in a longitudinal magnetic field. It is shown that the presence of sharp boundaries between layers leads to the appearance of additional branches of the dispersion curves in the frequency range ω _Be < ω < ω_UH(0), where ω_Be is the electron gyrofrequency and ω_UH(0) is the upper-hybrid resonance frequency for the near-axis region of a nonuniform waveguide. The fields of eigenmodes corresponding to these branches comprise resonance structures near the sharp plasma-density variation at which the upper-hybrid resonance conditions are satisfied and plasma waves are excited. The frequency interval of such a branch is limited by the resonant frequencies of the neighboring uniform layers. It turns out that in the case of a strong magnetic field ({ie392-01}, where ω_p is the plasma frequency having the value {ie392-02} in the near-axis region of a nonuniform waveguide), the fundamental-mode field is localized in the near-axis region of a nonuniform waveguide, whereas in the opposite case {ie392-03}, the maximum wave fields are localized in either the upper-hybrid resonance region or the outer (near-boundary) layer of the waveguide if there is no resonance region. It is found that the whistler (helicon) contribution to the field structure of the fundamental axisymmetric mode is very small for narrow nonuniform waveguides (b < λ₀, where b is the waveguide radius and λ₀ is the wavelength in free space) if the plasma density on the axis is high compared with the cutoff density {ie392-04}. We present one of the possible explanations for the effect of narrowing of the plasma channel of a high-frequency whistler-range discharge with distance from a source in the increasing magnetic field. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 5, pp. 434–446, May 2008.     

Measurements of spatial cyclotron damping in a uniform magnetic field

The dispersion and damping of whistler waves has been measured in an essentially collisionless plasma at frequencies up to 0.92ω_c, the electron cyclotron frequency. The experimental results agree to within ± 10% of the plane wave hot plasma dispersion relation.     

On the phase boundaries of the integer quantum Hall effect. Part II

It has been shown that the observation of the transitions between the dielectric phase and the integer-quantum-Hall-effect phases with the quantized Hall conductivity σ _xy ^q ≥ 3e ²/h announced in a number of works is unjustified. In these works, the crossing points of the magnetic-field dependence of the diagonal resistivity ρ _xx at different temperatures T and ω_cτ = 1 have been misidentified as the critical points of the phase transitions. In fact, these crossing points are due to the sign change of the derivative dρ _xx /dT owing to the quantum corrections to the conductivity. Here, ω_c = eB/m is the cyclotron frequency, τ is the transport relaxation time, and m is the effective electron mass.     

Length of the Instability Intervals for Hill's Equation

The length of instability intervals is investigated for the Hill equation y′′+ω(ω− 2∈p(x)y = 0, where p(x) has an infinite Fourier series of coefficients c _n. For any small ∈ it is shown that these lengths are completely characterized by the c _n's.     

Condition of strong magnetic field in the mode of quantum reluctance oscillations

The volume (3D), quasi-two-dimentional (Q2D), and two-dimentional (2D) oscillations of degenerated electrons of the Shubnikov-de Haase reluctance reveal common properties. The region of quantum oscillations is bounded (in the magnetic field) from below by the weak field condition (ω_cτ_t≤1) and from above by the quantum limit condition (ξ_F≥ħω_c/2). The monotonic oscillation component is saturated for the occupied main conduction E_m-subband and excitation E_p-subband of dimensional quantization for the Q2D and 2D electron systems in strong magnetic fields. The reluctance of the Q2D system in the quantum limit changes according to a law ∼B ^α with α ≈ 2.6–2.8. The oscillation amplitude is described by an exponential dependence on the magnetic field strength and temperature, similarly to the 3D case. This is caused by the identity of physical conditions and the topology of resonant escape of the Landau levels out of the Fermi surface. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 33–39, March, 2006.     

Spectra of high-frequency waves in hot magnetized plasmas

On the basis of numerical solution of the dispersion equation, we obtain the spectra of weakly damped high-frequency waves in a hot magnetized plasma for the case where the electron cyclotron frequency ω_He is below the plasma frequency ω_pe. It is shown that the longitudinal wave propagating at an angle to the magnetic field evolves into the slow extraordinary wave for the refractive index n ≤ 1. For n ≫ 1, the longitudinal-wave frequency increases with the refractive index, and the wave evolves into the wave with anomalous dispersion if the angle θ between the wave vector and the magnetic field is close to 90°. In the same range of θ angles, Bernstein modes appear in the spectrum of plasma eigenmode oscillations. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 258–266, March 2006.     

Collective electronic excitations in a semiconductor superlattice in the Landau and Wannier-Stark ladder regime

Using a mean-field approximation, we have developed a systematic treatment of collective electronic modes in a semiconductor superlattice (SL) in the presence of strong electric and magnetic fields parallel to the SL axis. The spectrum of collective modes with zero wavevector along the SL axis is shown to consist of a principle magnetoplasmon mode and an infinite set of Bernstein-like modes. For non-zero wavevector along the SL axis, in addition to the cyclotron modes, extra collective modes are found at the frequencies |Nω _c±Mω _s|, which we call cyclotron-Stark modes (ω _c and ω _s are respectively the cyclotron and Stark frequencies, N and M are integer numbers). The frequencies of the modes propagating in “oblique” direction with respect to the SL axis show oscillatory behavior as a function of electric field strength. All the modes considered have very weak spatial dispersion and they are not Landau damped. The specific predictions made for the dispersion relations of the collective excitations should be observable in resonant Raman scattering experiments. Received 29 August 2002 / Received in final form 25 February 2003 Published online 4 June 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: 612033@inbox.ru     

Leading-twist contribution to χ<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis>0,2</Subscript> → ωω decays

The leading twist contribution to χ _c0,2 → ωω decays in the color-singlet approximation is considered. It is shown that the prediction for Br(χ _c0 → ωω) is in good agreement with the experimental data, while Br(χ _c2 → ωω) differs from the experiment significantly. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Near perpendicular propagation of ion cyclotron modes in a deuterium-hydrogen-oxygen fusion plasma

A dispersion relation for the near perpendicular propagation of the electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave has been derived in a fusion plasma that has deuterium as a majority species, hydrogen as a minority species and fully ionized oxygen as an impurity constituent; all being modelled by loss cone distribution functions. The wave has a frequencyω around the deuterium ion gyrofrequency-Ω_D and a wavelength much longer than its Larmor radiusγ _LD(k _⊥ γ _LD<1); the plasma itself being characterized by large ion plasma frequencies (ω _PD ² >Ω _D ² ). Two modes, a low frequency (LF) and a high frequency (HF) mode of opposite electrical energy can propagate in the plasma; the instabilities that arise are thus due to an interaction of modes of opposite energies. We find that while hydrogen tends to destabilize the plasma, the impurity oxygen ions have the reverse effect. Also the plasma is most stable when the ratios of the perpendicular components of oxygen-to-deuterium and hydrogen-to-deuterium temperatures are kept low. Detailed studies of the wave propagation characteristics and energy reveal the close resemblance of a loss cone plasma containing oxygen to a stable Maxwellian plasma in regard to wave stability, propagation and energy.     

Instabilities of an electron cloud in a Penning trap

We have measured the storage instabilities of electrons in a Penning trap at low magnetic fields. These measurements are carried out as a function of the trapping voltage, for different magnetic fields. It is seen that these instabilities occur at the same positions when the trapping voltage is expressed as a percentage of the maximum voltage, given by the stability limit. The characteristic frequencies at which these instabilities occur, obey a relation that is given by n _zω _z + n ₊ω ₊ + n _-ω _- = 0, where ω _z, ω ₊ and ω _- are the axial, perturbed cyclotron and the magnetron frequencies of the trapped electrons respectively, and the n's are integers. The reason for these instabilities are attributed to higher order static perturbations in the trapping potential. Received 5 August 2002 / Received in final form 14 October 2002 Published online 17 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"Present address: Dept. of Physics, Rampurhat College, Rampurhat, Birbhum, West Bengal, India. RID="b" ID="b"e-mail: werth@mail.uni-mainz.de     

Plasma Maser Theory of Whistler Waves in the Presence of Ion Cyclotron Turbulence

In this paper we consider the plasma maser theory of whistler waves in the presence of ion cyclotron waves in a magnetized plasma. In a plasma with low frequency ion cyclotron turbulence and a high frequency test whistler wave, growth of the whistler wave takes place because of the turbulent bremsstrahlung interaction between the resonant electrons and the modulated electric fields. The growth rate of the whistler wave is calculated and the results discussed.