Period doubling of azimuthal oscillations on a non-neutral magnetized electron column

Abstract

We investigate the low-frequency azimuthal oscillations on a non-neutral magnetized electron column of very low density. A perturbation analysis of the slow mode of the rigid rotator equilibrium is developed to illustrate the nature of large-amplitude fundamental-mode oscillations. The results of this theoretical analysis show two important characteristics: firstly, as the perturbation amplitude is increased the wave form ceases to be purely sinusoidal and shows period doubling. Secondly, above a certain threshold, all harmonics of the wave grow and the wave breaks. The results of the former are compared with a simple electron beam experiment and are found to be in good qualitative agreement.