Radio Wave Generation by Multistream Charge Interaction

Abstract

The excitation of plasma oscillations in traveling beams is reviewed; analytic and graphical methods are employed to ascertain the ranges of parameters over which wave growth may exist and to determine contours of constant amplification factor. The effect of thermal velocities is taken into account by utilizing approximations to a maxwellian distribution. It is found that the possibility of growth exists even for beam injection velocities much smaller than the mean thermal motion in the region; narrow band widths are encountered under these circumstances. Possible applications to solar phenomena are indicated.