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Yves Elskens

Publications and source records attributed to Yves Elskens.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

Electromagnetic power and momentum in N-body hamiltonian approach to wave-particle dynamics in a periodic structure

To model momentum exchange in nonlinear wave-particle interaction, as in amplification devices like traveling-wave tubes, we use an $N$-body self-consistent hamiltonian description based on Kuznetsov's discrete model, and we provide new formulations for the electromagnetic power and the conserved momentum. This approach leads to fast and accurate numerical simulations in time domain and in one dimensional space.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2017

Comparison Between Pierce Equivalent Circuit and Recent Discrete Model for Traveling-Wave Tubes

To perform accurate numerical simulations of the traveling-wave tube in time domain, a new approach using field decomposition with large reduction of degrees-of-freedom has been proposed: the discrete model. To assess its validity, we compare it with the well-established Pierce equivalent circuit model in small signal regime. We also discuss associated beam, circuit-beam, and circuit impedances. We demonstrate analytically and with a numerical example that the newly developed discrete model is very close to the Pierce model. Interestingly, small deviations do exist at the edges of the amplification band. We speculate that the deviation from reality is on the Pierce model side, while the discrete model would be more accurate.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2017

Low frequency resistive instability in a dusty Hall thruster plasma

Along with crossed electric and magnetic fields in a Hall thruster, a radial component of electric field is generated that takes ions toward the walls, which causes sputtering and produces dust contamination in the thruster plasma. Considering negatively charged dust particles in the Hall thruster, we approach analytically the resistive instability by taking into account the oscillations of dust particles, ions and electrons along with finite temperatures of ions and electrons. In typical Hall thruster regimes, the resistive instability growth rate increases with higher collision rates in the plasma, stronger magnetic field but it decreases with higher mass of the dust and higher temperature of the ions and electrons. In comparison with dust-free models, the presence of dust results into a drop of the resistive instability growth rate by three orders of magnitude, but the growth rate increases slowly for dust densities within the typical range.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2017

Phase mixing importance for both Landau instability and damping

We discuss the self-consistent dynamics of plasmas by means of hamiltonian formalism for a system of $N$ near-resonant electrons interacting with a single Langmuir wave. The connection with the Vlasov description is revisited through the numerical calculation of the van Kampen-like eigenfrequencies of the linearized dynamics for many degrees of freedom. Both the exponential-like growth as well as damping of the Langmuir wave are shown to emerge from a phase mixing effect among beam modes, revealing unexpected similarities between the stable and unstable regimes.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2016

On frequency and time domain models of traveling wave tubes

We discuss the envelope modulation assumption of frequency-domain models of traveling wave tubes (TWTs) and test its consistency with the Maxwell equations. We compare the predictions of usual frequency-domain models with those of a new time domain model of the TWT.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2016

Brownian regime of finite-N corrections to particle motion in the XY hamiltonian mean field model

We study the dynamics of the N-particle system evolving in the XY hamiltonian mean field (HMF) model for a repulsive potential, when no phase transition occurs. Starting from a homogeneous distribution, particles evolve in a mean field created by the interaction with all others. This interaction does not change the homogeneous state of the system, and particle motion is approximately ballistic with small corrections. For initial particle data approaching a waterbag, it is explicitly proved that corrections to the ballistic velocities are in the form of independent brownian noises over a time scale diverging not slower than $N^{2/5}$ as $N \to \infty$, which proves the propagation of molecular chaos. Molecular dynamics simulations of the XY-HMF model confirm our analytical findings.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2015

N-body description of Debye shielding and Landau damping

This paper brings further insight into the recently published N-body description of Debye shielding and Landau damping [Escande D F, Elskens Y and Doveil F 2014 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 57 025017]. Its fundamental equation for the electrostatic potential is derived in a simpler and more rigorous way. Various physical consequences of the new approach are discussed, and this approach is compared with the seminal one by Pines and Bohm [Pines D and Bohm D 1952 Phys. Rev. 85 338--353].

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2014

Direct path from microscopic mechanics to Debye shielding, Landau damping, and wave-particle interaction

The derivation of Debye shielding and Landau damping from the $N$-body description of plasmas is performed directly by using Newton's second law for the $N$-body system. This is done in a few steps with elementary calculations using standard tools of calculus, and no probabilistic setting. Unexpectedly, Debye shielding is encountered together with Landau damping. This approach is shown to be justified in the one-dimensional case when the number of particles in a Debye sphere becomes large. The theory is extended to accommodate a correct description of trapping and chaos due to Langmuir waves. Shielding and collisional transport are found to be two related aspects of the repulsive deflections of electrons, in such a way that each particle is shielded by all other ones while keeping in uninterrupted motion.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2014

Uniform derivation of Coulomb collisional transport thanks to Debye shielding

The effective potential acting on particles in plasmas being essentially the Debye-shielded Coulomb potential, the particles collisional transport in thermal equilibrium is calculated for all impact parameters $b$, with a convergent expression reducing to Rutherford scattering for small $b$. No cutoff at the Debye length scale is needed, and the Coulomb logarithm is only slightly modified.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2014

Vlasov equation and $N$-body dynamics - How central is particle dynamics to our understanding of plasmas?

Difficulties in founding microscopically the Vlasov equation for Coulomb-interacting particles are recalled for both the statistical approach (BBGKY hierarchy and Liouville equation on phase space) and the dynamical approach (single empirical measure on one-particle $(\mathbf{r},\mathbf{v})$-space). The role of particle trajectories (characteristics) in the analysis of the partial differential Vlasov--Poisson system is stressed. Starting from many-body dynamics, a direct derivation of both Debye shielding and collective behaviour is sketched.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2013

New foundations and unification of basic plasma physics by means of classical mechanics

The derivation of Debye shielding and Landau damping from the $N$-body description of plasmas requires many pages of heavy kinetic calculations in classical textbooks and is done in distinct, unrelated chapters. Using Newton's second law for the $N$-body system, we perform this derivation in a few steps with elementary calculations using standard tools of calculus, and no probabilistic setting. Unexpectedly, Debye shielding is encountered on the way to Landau damping. The theory is extended to accommodate a correct description of trapping or chaos due to Langmuir waves, and to avoid the small amplitude assumption for the electrostatic potential. Using the shielded potential, collisional transport is computed for the first time by a convergent expression including the correct calculation of deflections for all impact parameters. Shielding and collisional transport are found to be two related aspects of the repulsive deflections of electrons.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2013

Ornstein-Uhlenbeck limit for the velocity process of an $N$-particle system interacting stochastically

An $N$-particle system with stochastic interactions is considered. Interactions are driven by a Brownian noise term and total energy conservation is imposed. The evolution of the system, in velocity space, is a diffusion on a $(3N-1)$-dimensional sphere with radius fixed by the total energy. In the $N\rightarrow\infty$ limit, a finite number of velocity components are shown to evolve independently and according to an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process.

math-ph↗
arXiv2013

Hamiltonian description of self-consistent wave-particle dynamics in a periodic structure

Conservation of energy and momentum in the classical theory of radiating electrons has been a challenging problem since its inception. We propose a formulation of classical electrodynamics in Hamiltonian form that satisfies the Maxwell equations and the Lorentz force. The radiated field is represented with eigenfunctions using the Gel'fand $β$-transform. The electron Hamiltonian is the standard one coupling the particles with the propagating fields. The dynamics conserves energy and excludes self-acceleration. A complete Hamiltonian formulation results from adding electrostatic action-at-a-distance coupling between electrons.

nlin.CD↗
arXiv2012

Basic microscopic plasma physics unified and simplified by N-body classical mechanics

Debye shielding, collisional transport, Landau damping of Langmuir waves, and spontaneous emission of these waves are introduced, in typical plasma physics textbooks, in different chapters. This paper provides a compact unified introduction to these phenomena without appealing to fluid or kinetic models, but by using Newton's second law for a system of $N$ electrons in a periodic box with a neutralizing ionic background. A rigorous equation is derived for the electrostatic potential. Its linearization and a first smoothing reveal this potential to be the sum of the shielded Coulomb potentials of the individual particles. Smoothing this sum yields the classical Vlasovian expression including initial conditions in Landau contour calculations of Langmuir wave growth or damping. The theory is extended to accommodate a correct description of trapping or chaos due to Langmuir waves. In the linear regime, the amplitude of such a wave is found to be ruled by Landau growth or damping and by spontaneous emission. Using the shielded potential, the collisional diffusion coefficient is computed for the first time by a convergent expression including the correct calculation of deflections for all impact parameters. Shielding and collisional transport are found to be two related aspects of the repulsive deflections of electrons.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2012

Gaussian convergence for stochastic acceleration of $\cN$ particles in the dense spectrum limit

The velocity of a passive particle in a one-dimensional wave field is shown to converge in law to a Wiener process, in the limit of a dense wave spectrum with independent complex amplitudes, where the random phases distribution is invariant modulo $π/2$ and the power spectrum expectation is uniform. The proof provides a full probabilistic foundation to the quasilinear approximation in this limit. The result extends to an arbitrary number of particles, founding the use of the ensemble picture for their behaviour in a single realization of the stochastic wave field.

math-ph↗
arXiv2008

Diffusion limit for many particles in a periodic stochastic acceleration field

The one-dimensional motion of any number $\cN$ of particles in the field of many independent waves (with strong spatial correlation) is formulated as a second-order system of stochastic differential equations, driven by two Wiener processes. In the limit of vanishing particle mass ${\mathfrak{m}} \to 0$, or equivalently of large noise intensity, we show that the momenta of all $N$ particles converge weakly to $N$ independent Brownian motions, and this convergence holds even if the noise is periodic. This justifies the usual application of the diffusion equation to a family of particles in a unique stochastic force field. The proof rests on the ergodic properties of the relative velocity of two particles in the scaling limit.

math.PR↗
arXiv2008

Self-consistency vanishes in the plateau regime of the bump-on-tail instability

Using the Vlasov-wave formalism, it is shown that self-consistency vanishes in the plateau regime of the bump-on-tail instability if the plateau is broad enough. This shows that, in contrast with the "turbulent trapping" Ansatz, a renormalization of the Landau growth rate or of the quasilinear diffusion coefficient is not necessarily related to the limit where the Landau growth time becomes large with respect to the time of spreading of the particle positions due to velocity diffusion.

physics.plasm-ph↗