3-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF NONLINEAR PLASMA OSCILLATION

In an underdense plasma a large-amplitude plasma oscillation may be produced by the beating of two external and colinear electromagnetic waves with a frequency difference approximately equal to the plasma frequency - plasma beat wave (PBW) resonant mechanism. The plasma oscillations are driven by the ponderomotive force arising from the beating of the two imposed electromagnetic waves. In this paper two pump electromagnetic waves with arbitrary transverse profiles have been considered. The plasma is described by using the three dimensional weakly relativistic fluid equations. The nonlinear plasma oscillation dynamics is studied by using the eulerian description, the averaging and the multiple time scale methods. Unlike the linear theory a strong cross field coupling between longitudinal and transverse electric field components of the plasma oscillation comes out, resulting in a nonlinear phase change and energy transfer between the two components. Unlike the one-dimensional nonlinear theory, the nonlinear frequency shift is caused by relativistic effects as well as by convective effects and electromagnetic field generated from the three dimensional plasma oscillation. The large amplitude plasma oscillation dynamics produced by a bunched relativistic electron beam with arbitrary transverse profile - plasma wake field (PWF) - or by a high power single frequency short electromagnetic pulse with arbitrary transverse profile - electromagnetic plasma wake field (EPWF) - may be described by means of the present theory. © 1990 IOP Publishing Ltd.