Effects of particle trapping and velocity slippage on beam-plasma interactions

Abstract

Nonlinear oscillations in homogeneous beam-plasma interactions are studied with respect to the trapping of beam particles and the velocity difference between the beam and the excited wave. A parameter defined as the ratio of bounce to oscillation frequencies divided by velocity slippage, is shown to be a good measure for the chaos in the system. The chaotic oscillation with a large value of this parameter is associated with a sideband instability. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.