Theory of stimulated nonresonant emission from relativistic beams

A study is made of the radiative Pierce instability of a relativistic electron beam in a waveguide stabilized by an infinitely strong magnetic field. Analytical and computational methods are used to determine the growth rate of the instability, as well as the efficiency for conversion of the beam energy into electromagnetic field energy as a function of the beam current, how relativistic the beam is, and the geometry of the system. The physical nature of the instability is clarified and the mechanisms for its saturation are discussed. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 2037–2050 (June 1999)