On the Excitation of Oscillations in a Thermal Plasma

Abstract

In an ionized gas neutrized on the average plasma oscillations are considered for an arbitrary distribution of electron beams. Under the assumption of small signal and of the absence of any static fields, the fundamental equations are derived in one-dimensional treatment. The dispersion relation obtained from the fundamental equations is found to describe the behavior of propagation of localized initial disturbances with electron beams. It is applied to the case of excitation of thermal plasma by an injected electron beam and the rate of wave growth is obtained. The numerical results are compared with the circumstances corresponding to the investigation by Merrill and Webb. Abrupt scattering of electron beam observed may be ascribed to the excitation of plasma oscillations.