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Phase space holes in non-periodic plasmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2003

ERIC FIJALKOW
Affiliation:
MAPMO–CNRS-Université d'Orléans, BP 6759, F-45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
LUIGI NOCERA
Affiliation:
IFAM–CNR, via Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy (nocera@ifam.pi.cnr.it)
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Abstract

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We study the dynamics of phase space holes in a non-collisional plasma by numerical integration of the one-dimensional Vlasov equation. The plasma is bounded and connected to vacuum by two interfaces, which gives rise to non-periodic boundary conditions. By choosing different initial conditions, we consider four different situations: development of a sinusoidal wave, two-stream instability, development of an ab initio Bernstein–Greene–Kruskal state and the expansion of a plasma into vacuum. For the latter situation ions move with a realistic mass of 1837 electron masses. The most prominent results of our investigation are: (a) a clockwise revolution of holes in phase space; (b) the appearance of stable oscillations of the total electron momentum, which, despite their striking linearity, cannot be related to electrostatic plasma oscillations. To the best of our knowledge none of these phenomena have been reported in kinetic simulations before: indeed we prove that the non-periodicity of the boundary conditions is an essential requirement for the sustainment of both hole revolution and momentum oscillations.

Type
PAPERS
Copyright
2003 Cambridge University Press