Nonlinear oscillations of trapped plasmas
A uniform density ellipsoid is an equilibrium state of a low-energy non-neutral plasma confined in a harmonic trap. Normal modes of this plasma can be detected; they provide a nondestructive diagnostic tool. The low-order quadrupole modes are particularly simple. They can be calculated analytically even in a nonlinear regime. In general, nonlinear coupling leads to the complicated stochastic dynamics. In special cases, regular solutions can be found. It is shown that the behavior of an elongated ellipsoid oriented along the trap symmetry axis is nearly integrable. The study results in simple analytical expressions for frequencies and ellipsoid semiaxes.
Amiranashvili
SG
General Physics Institute, Moscow 117 942, Russia.