Hamiltonian treatment of ponderomotive interactions in a Vlasov plasma

Abstract

A Hamiltonian formulation of ponderomotive interactions in a Vlasov plasma is presented. Transformation from the rest frame to the oscillation center frame (OCF) is achieved, and a Liouville equation is derived for the low-frequency OCF distribution function; the Hamiltonian in this equation includes the ponderomotive terms. This equation is solved in the adiabatic approximation, the corresponding charge and current densities evaluated, and the first order nonadiabatic correction to the current density is discussed.