Stabilization of nonlinear plasma waves by radiation

Abstract

It is shown that the interaction of a plasma with thermal radiation leads to the stabilization of both periodic and solitary nonlinear plasma waves. The stabilized periodic nonlinear plasma waves were indeed observed in the experiment carried out by Looney and Brown. There are many branches of radiation-induced solitary waves in plasmas, corresponding in particular to the density waves in hot plasmas of accretion disks.