Simulation of the collapse and dissipation of Langmuir wave packets

Abstract

The collapse of isolated Langmuir wave packets is studied numerically in two dimensions using both particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and by integrating the Zakharov partial differential equations (PDE’s). The initial state consists of a localized Langmuir wave packet in an ion background that either is uniform or has a profile representative of the density wells in which wave packets form during strong plasma turbulence. Collapse thresholds are determined numerically and compared to analytical estimates. A model in which Langmuir damping is significantly stronger than Landau damping is constructed which, when included in the PDE simulations, yields good agreement with the collapse dynamics observed in PIC simulations for wave packets with initial wave energy densities small compared to the thermal level. For more intense initial Langmuir fields, collapse is arrested in PIC simulations at lower field strengths than in PDE simulations. Neither nonlinear saturation of the density perturbation nor fluid electron nonlinearities can account for the difference between simulation methods in this regime. However, at these wave levels inhomogeneous electron heating and coherent jets of transit-time accelerated electrons in phase space are observed, resulting in further enhancement of wave damping and the consequent reduction of fields in the PIC simulations.