Influence of electron-electron collisions on the propagation of ion-acoustic space-charge waves in a warm plasma waveguide

Abstract

The influence of electron-electron collisions on the propagation of the ion-acoustic space-charge wave is investigated in a cylindrical waveguide filled with warm collisional plasma by employing the normal mode analysis and the method of separation of variables. It is shown that the frequency of the ion-acoustic space-charge wave with higher-harmonic modes is always smaller than that with lower-harmonic modes, especially in intermediate wave number domains. It is also shown that the collisional damping rate of the ion-acoustic space-charge wave due to the electron-electron collision effect with higher-harmonic modes is smaller than that with lower-harmonic modes. In addition, it is found that the maximum position of the collisional damping rate shifts to large wave numbers with an increase of the harmonic mode. The variation of the wave frequency and the collisional damping rate of the ion-acoustic space-charge wave is also discussed.