Reverse Current Induced by Injection of a Relativistic Electron Beam into a Pinched Plasma

摘要

A macroscopic treatment of the current induced in a dense pinched plasma by injection of a pulsed relativistic electron beam is presented. It is found that this induced current is opposite in direction to the beam current and equal to it in magnitude except for small differences at the ends of the pulse. Also, the reverse current is found to approach zero very rapidly with increasing radial coordinate, r, outside the beam and is, therefore, located almost entirely within the beam region. These conclusions are believed to be consistent with recently reported experimental observations of such an injection of a relativistic electron beam into a dense pinched plasma. (Author)