BGK states from the bump-on-tail instability

Numerical computations are presented of the BGK-like states that emerge beyond the saturation of the bump-on-tail instability in the Vlasov-Poisson system. The stability of these states towards subharmonic perturbations is explored in order to gauge whether the primary bump-on-tail instability always suffers a secondary instability that precipitates wave mergers and coarsening of the BGK pattern. Because the onset of the bump-on-tail instability occurs at finite wavenumber, and the spatially homogeneous state is not itself unstable to spatial subharmonics, it is demonstrated that mergers and coarsening do not always occur, and the dynamics displays a richer spatio-temporal complexity.     

A hierarchy of coupled maps

A large number of logistic maps are coupled together as a mathematical metaphor for complex natural systems with hierarchical organization. The elementary maps are first collected into globally coupled lattices. These lattices are then coupled together in a hierarchical way to form a system with many degrees of freedom. We summarize the behavior of the individual blocks, and then explore the dynamics of the hierarchy. We offer some ideas that guide our understanding of this type of system. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.     

Scale size of magnetic turbulence in tokamaks probed with 30-MeV electrons

Measurements of synchrotron radiation emitted by 30-MeV runaway electrons in the TEXTOR-94 tokamak show that the runaway population decays after switching on neutral beam injection (NBI). The decay starts only with a significant delay, which decreases with increasing NBI heating power. This delay provides direct evidence of the energy dependence of runaway confinement, which is expected if magnetic modes govern the loss of runaways. Application of the theory by Mynick and Strachan [Phys. Fluids 24, 695 (1981)] yields estimates for the "mode width" (delta) of magnetic perturbations: delta<0.5 cm in Ohmic discharges, increasing to delta = 4.4 cm for 0. 6 MW NBI.     

Synchronizing Moore and Spiegel

This paper presents a study of bifurcations and synchronization {in the sense of Pecora and Carroll [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 821-824 (1990)]} in the Moore-Spiegel oscillator equations. Complicated patterns of period-doubling, saddle-node, and homoclinic bifurcations are found and analyzed. Synchronization is demonstrated by numerical experiment, periodic orbit expansion, and by using coordinate transformations. Synchronization via the resetting of a coordinate after a fixed interval is also successful in some cases. The Moore-Spiegel system is one of a general class of dynamical systems and synchronization is considered in this more general context. (c) 1997 American Institute of Physics.     

Master-slave synchronization and the Lorenz equations

Since the seminal remark by Pecora and Carroll [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 821 (1990)] that one can synchronize chaotic systems, the main example in the related literature has been the Lorenz equations. Yet this literature contains a mixture of true and false, and of justified and unsubstantiated claims about the synchronization properties of the Lorenz equations. In this note we clarify some of the confusion. (c) 1997 American Institute of Physics.     

A Necessary and Sufficient Instability Condition for Inviscid Shear Flow

We derive a condition that is necessary and sufficient for the instability of inviscid, two-dimensional, plane-parallel, shear flow with equilibrium velocity profiles that are monotonic, real analytic, functions of the cross-stream coordinate. The analysis, which is based upon the Nyquist method, includes a means for delineating the possible kinds of bifurcations that involve the presence of the continuous spectrum, including those that occur at nonzero wave number. Several examples are given.