Accession Number:

AD0745399

Title:

The Ion Acoustic Instability in the Helium Positive Column,

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

ILLINOIS UNIV URBANA COORDINATED SCIENCE LAB

Personal Author(s):

• Fenneman,David Bentley

Report Date:

1972-05-01

Pagination or Media Count:

109.0

Abstract:

The theory of ion acoustic instability of the helium positive column in the pressure regime 0.050 to 0.250 Torr is developed, examined, and tested experimentally. Instability of the column is predicted by a kinetic theory which includes the effect of collisions with neutrals, but not by hydrodynamic theory. In the regime of the experiment, the ion acoustic instability is due to the resonant interaction of those electrons with velocities near the phase velocities of the ion acoustic waves inverse Landau damping even though the electron-neutral collision frequency exceeds the ion acoustic frequency. Author

Descriptors:

• *GAS DISCHARGES
• OSCILLATION
• ELECTRON DENSITY
• STABILITY
• KINETIC THEORY
• HYDRODYNAMICS
• PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
• DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
• DISPERSION RELATIONS
• DAMPING
• LANGMUIR PROBES
• TURBULENCE
• SHOCK WAVES
• HELIUM
• THESES
• THESES

Subject Categories:

• Plasma Physics and Magnetohydrodynamics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE