Damping of transversal plasma-electron oscillations and waves in low-collision electron-ion plasmas
Previously developed method for finding asymptotic solutions of Vlasov equations using two-dimensional (in coordinate x and time t) Laplace transform is here applied to consider transversal oscillations and waves in low-collision quasi-neutral (n_i \simeq n_e) Maxwellian electron-ion plasmas. We obtain two branches of electron waves: the ubiquitous one of high-frequency and high-velocity oscillations and the unusual low-velocity one. Taking into account Coulomb collisions in the limit m_e << m_i, \bar{v_i} << \bar{v_e}, and T_e m_e << T_i m_i results in expressions for transversal plasma-electron oscillation/wave decrements with a damping of the low-velocity electron branch \sim n_i^{1/3}/\bar{v}_e^{4/3}, where n_i is the ion density and \bar{v}_e is the mean electron velocity. It ought to rehabilitate Vlasov principal value prescription for relevant integrals, but to supplement it with representation of an asymptotical solution as a sum of exponents (not a single one). "Non-damping" kinematical waves in low-collision plasma transform in the damping ones at reasonably chosen iteration process.
Damping of plasma-electron oscillations and waves in low-collision electron-ion plasmas
Previously developed method for finding asymptotic solutions of Vlasov equations using two-dimensional (in coordinate x and time t) Laplace transform is applied to low-collision electron-ion plasmas. Taking into account Coulomb collisions in the limit m_e << m_i, \bar{v_i} << \bar{v_e}, and T_e m_e << T_i m_i, results in the expression for longitudinal high-frequency plasma-electron oscillation/wave decrement essentially depending on oscillation frequency \omega. This expression is quite different from the used one for low-frequency plasma sound, which can be derived using expansion in asymptotically divergent series in \delta/\omega_0, k v_i/\omega_0, where \delta is imaginary part of the frequency \omega=\omega_0+i\delta, and does not reduce to simple expression with some collision frequency \delta\sim\nu^{eff}_{e_i}.
Landau damping: is it real?
To calculate linear oscillations and waves in dynamics of gas and plasma one uses as a rule the old classical method of dispersion equation for complex frequencies $\omega$ and wave numbers $k$: $\epsilon(\omega,k)=0$. This method appears to be inapplicable, f.e., in the case of waves in Maxwellian collisionless plasma when dispersion equation has no solutions. By means of some refined sophistication L.~Landau in 1946 has suggested in this case actually to replace the dispersion equation with another one, having a specific solution (``Landau damping'') and being now widely used in plasma physics. Recently we have suggested a quite new universal method of two-dimensional Laplace transformation (in coordinate $x$ and time $t$ for plane wave case), that allows to obtain asymptotical solutions of original Vlasov plasma equations as inseparable sets of coupled oscillatory modes (but not a single wave like $\exp(-i\omega t+i k x)$). The mode parameters are defined in this case by double-poles ($\omega_n$,$k_n$) of Laplace image $E(\omega_n,k_n)$ of electrical field $E(x,t)$. This method allows one to obtain the whole set of oscillatory modes for every concrete problem. It leads to some new ideology in the theory of plasma oscillations, which are considered as a combination of coupled oscillatory modes (characterized by pairs ($\omega_n$,$k_n$) and amplitudes) and depend not only on the intrinsic plasma parameters, but also on mutually dependent self-consistent initial and boundary conditions and on method of plasma oscillations excitation.