Ion-acoustic modulation of a magnetized plasma jet by surface waves

Abstract

The frequency spectrum of surface waves propagating on a semibounded non-relativistic magnetized plasma jet in the ion-acoustic frequency region is obtained. In addition, the effect of an external magnetic field on the modulation of a non-relativistic plasma jet when the external magnetic field is either parallel or perpendicular to the jet velocity in the ion-acoustic frequency region is investigated. The period of the modulation structure is obtained and it is shown that when the modulation structure disappears. Furthermore, existence of this modulation in supersonic and subsonic magnetized plasma jet is studied. It is shown that when the external magnetic field is parallel to the jet velocity the modulation appears only in a subsonic jet. Furthermore, when the external magnetic field is perpendicular to the plasma jet velocity, not only the static field is screened along the external magnetic field at a distance of the order of Debye length, a modulation may simultaneously appear along the jet velocity as well for both subsonic and supersonic jets.