The action of Vlasov waves on the velocity distribution in a plasma

Abstract

A one-dimensional model with no magnetic field is considered. It is supposed that the plasma starts in thermal equilibrium and then a current is forced to grow. Instability leads to the growth of waves, which are shown to stir the distribution in phase space, but only over a limited range of velocity. It is concluded that in order to restore stability the energy in the wave must become comparable to the energy of drift.