Autoresonant (Nonstationary) Excitation of the Diocotron Mode in Non-neutral Plasmas

Abstract
We report on the autoresonant (nonlinear phase locking) manipulation of the diocotron mode in a non-neutral plasma. Autoresonance is a very general phenomena in driven nonlinear oscillator and wave systems, and allows us to control the amplitude of a nonlinear wave without the use of feedback. These are the first controlled laboratory studies of autoresonance in a collective plasma system.