Generation of Low Frequency Plasma Waves After Wave-Breaking

TL;DR

This study investigates the evolution of electrostatic plasma waves post wave-breaking using simulations, revealing persistent BGK modes below plasma frequency and proposing a theoretical model aligned with observed phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a new understanding of plasma wave behavior after wave-breaking and presents a simplified theoretical model matching simulation results.

Findings

Plasma heats up after wave-breaking but retains energy in BGK modes.

BGK wave frequency is below electron plasma frequency and decreases with initial amplitude.

Different acceleration mechanisms are identified post wave-breaking.

Abstract

Spatio-temporal evolution of a non-relativistic electrostatic waves in a cold plasma has been studied in the wave-breaking regime using a 1D particle-in-cell simulation. It is found that plasma gets heated after the wave-breaking but a fraction of initial energy always remains with the remnant wave in the form of BGK mode in warm plasma. An interesting finding of this work is that the frequency of the resultant BGK wave is found be below electron plasma frequency which decreases with increasing initial amplitude. Moreover, the acceleration mechanism after the wave-breaking is also found to be different from the previous work. In order to explain the results observed in the numerical experiments, a simplified theoretical model is constructed which exhibits a good agreement with the simulation. These investigations have direct relevance in wake-field acceleration experiments.