On the Detection of Ion Oscillations in a Mercury Discharge

Résumé du livre

The possibility of using a low pressure mercury discharge to detect ion plasma oscillations was examined. It was found that 1) collisions will not interfere with the phenomenon; 2) the current which maintains the discharge will cause the waves to grow (through the two-stream instability) in a time comparable with or less than the oscillation period. Aside from complications caused by the fact that the maximum growth occurs at rather short wavelengths, detection of these waves appears quite feasible. (Author).