Simplified Model of Nonlinear Landau Damping
Authors: N. A. Yampolsky and N. J. Fisch
Abstract:
The nonlinear interaction of a plasma wave with resonant electrons results in a plateau in the electron distribution function close to the phase velocity of the plasma wave. As a result, Landau damping of the plasma wave vanishes and the resonant frequency of the plasma wave downshifts. However, this simple picture is invalid when the external driving force changes the plasma wave fast enough so that the plateau cannot be fully developed. A new model to describe amplification of the plasma wave including the saturation of Landau damping and the nonlinear frequency shift is proposed. The proposed model takes into account the change of the plasma wave amplitude and describes saturation of the Landau damping rate in terms of a single fluid equation, which simplifies the description of the inherently kinetic nature of Landau damping. A proposed fluid model, incorporating these simplifications, is verified numerically using a kinetic Vlasov code.
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Submitted to: Physics of Plasmas (December 2008)
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Download PPPL-4426 (pdf 700 KB 9 pp)
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