A MODEL OF THE BEAM-PLASMA DISCHARGE

The beam-plasma instability is one of the most basic and general situations in plasma physics. Under suitable conditions, it gives rise to strong electrostatic waves, which interact with the plasma electrons and ions. If the neutral density is high enough, a charge is ignited, the Beam-Plasma Discharge. In this thesis, the onset of the strong-beam-plasma instability is studied, and scaling laws of the discharge ignition are obtained for different configurations. The mechanism responsible for the discharge, i.e., the energization of plasma electrons by the plasma waves, is also studied. The model proposed here is consistent with the experimental data, is free from the contradictions present in other models, and explains the observed discharge signatures (wave, light and particle characteristics). The agreement with the experimental scaling law is remarkably good.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Natural Sciences

Grantor

Rice University

Year dc:date.issued

1984

Author dc:creator

• LLOBET, XAVIER

• Plasma physics

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1911/15841

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/15841