Wave-Particle Interactions in Electron Acoustic Waves in Pure Ion Plasmas

Abstract

Electron acoustic waves (EAW) with a phase velocity less than twice the plasma thermal velocity are observed on pure ion plasma columns. At low excitation amplitudes, the EAW frequencies agree with theory, but at moderate excitation the EAW is more frequency variable than typical Langmuir waves, and at large excitations resonance is observed over a broad range. Laser induced fluorescence measurements of the wave-coherent ion velocity distribution show phase reversals and wave-particle trapping plateaus at +/-vph, as expected, and corroborate the unusual role of kinetic pressure in the EAW.