Amplitude Oscillation of an Instability in a Plasma in the Presence of a Damping Mechanism

Abstract

The time evolution of an instability in a plasma in the presence of a damping mechanism is studied. The drift cyclotron loss-cone mode in a mirror plasma is adopted as an example. A quasilinear model and a simulation code taking into account the electron bounce resonance damping have been developed to describe the amplitude oscillation of this mode, which has been observed experimentally. It was found that this oscillatory behavior of the amplitude is caused by the temporal variation of the growth rate and the effect of electron bounce resonance damping on the amplitude of this mode.