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Multimode theory of electron hole transverse instability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2023

Xiang Chen  and
I.H. Hutchinson Open the ORCID record for I.H. Hutchinson [Opens in a new window]
Xiang Chen
Affiliation:
Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
I.H. Hutchinson*
Affiliation:
Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: ihutch@mit.edu
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Abstract

We present Vlasov–Poisson three-dimensional linear stability analysis of an initially planar electron hole structure, solving for the distribution function by integration along unperturbed orbits. The non-sinusoidal potential perturbation shape (parallel to $B$) is expanded in eigenfunctions of the adiabatic Poisson operator, generalizing the prior assumption of a rigid shift of the equilibrium. We show that the shiftmode is then modified by a second discrete mode plus an integral over a continuum of wave-like modes. A rigorous treatment shows that the continuum can be approximated effectively by a single mode that satisfies the external wave dispersion relation, thus making the perturbation a weighted sum of three modes. We find numerically the solution for the complex instability frequency, and the corresponding three mode amplitudes determining the perturbation eigenmode. This multimode analysis refines the accuracy of the prior single-mode results, giving slightly higher growth rates at most parameters, as expected from the extra mode shape freedom. Oscillating modes near stability boundaries have larger mode distortions which help explain particle-in-cell simulations that observe instability up to ${\sim }20$ % beyond the prior shiftmode thresholds, and narrowing of the perturbation. At high magnetic field, the multimode analysis predicts a reduction of the already small growth rate.

Keywords

plasma nonlinear phenomenaspace plasma physicsplasma instabilities
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 89 , Issue 1 , February 2023 , 905890105
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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