Chapter

CRIlFR1 FOR I DFNlIFYI NG AMFLIFYI NG wAVFS

AND ABSOLUlF INSlABILIlIFS
lhi s chapter deveIops a generaI nethod Ior distinguishing he-
tween anpIiIying and evane s cent wave s and Ior detecting the pr e s -
ence oIahsoIute instahiIitie s , I t i s enphasizedthat aIthoughthe
suh] ect oIprinary concernin thi s nonograph is the hean-pIasna
interaction, the suh] e ct natter oI the pres ent chapter i snot re-
strictedt othi s speciaI cas e , lhe approach pre sentedher e i s a
generaI one hasedonIy on an anaIysi s oI the dispers ion equation
and is thereIore appIicahIe to a wide cIas s oI uniIorn, tine -
invariant systens ,
D Se ction ,1 the prohIeni s deIined, and the instahiIity terni-
noIogy to he usedthroughout this nonograph is expIained, lhe
nathenaticaI prooIoIthe nethod Ior identiIying anpIiIying wave s
and ahsoIute instahiIitie s i s given in Sections . and . l . lhe
propagation oIa puI s e di s turhance i s studied in Section . 4 to
denonstrate the equivaIence hetween anpIiIying wave s and
convective instahiIitie s , lhe r eader intere stedprinariIy in the
r e suIt wiII Iind the criteria res tated in Section . 5 aIong with s one
physicaIinterpr etations andconnents on the nathenat:caI proce-
dure Ior appIying the criteria, lhe di s cus s ioni nSection . o in-
cIude s a conpari son oIthe pres ent IornuIation withthe other works
on this suhe ct , sone connents onthe useIuInes s oI such criteria,
and a hrieIwor dahouttheconceptoIgroup veIocity oI propagating
waves in unstahIe systens , IIIustrative exanpIe s oIthe appIication
oIthe criteria are given in Section . 7 , the s e exanpIe s incIude the
s inpIe quadratic equations ohtainedIron the coupIing-oI-node s
IornaIisn,
. 1 Statenent oIthe FrohIen
lhe generaI type oI systen consideredin thi s chapter i s tine-
invariantanduniIornin( at Ieast) one spatiaI dinension ( the z co-
ordinate) , Becaus eo I this honogeneity in tine and the spatiaI
dinension z , Iineari zedperturhations oIthe undriven systen can
he taken to he oIthe Iornexp _(ct
- kz)] , lhe reIationhetween
the Irequency c and the wavenunher k is givenhythe disper s ion
equation
[c,k) 7 ( .1)

Statement of the Problem

A problem of interest in plasma physics and elsewhere is that

of determining the nature of "unstable waves" or "instabilities"
in such a system. A wave is said to be unstable if for some real
wave number k a complex W ~ w
r
*
J
with negative is ob
tained from the dispersion equation, signifying growth in time of
a spatially periodic disturbance of infinite extent. It was first in
dicated by Twiss43
,
44 and Landau and Liftshitz,45 and very clearly
pointed out by Sturrock,46 that two types of instabilities can be dis
tinguished physically: "convective" instabilities, and "absolute"
or "nonconvective" instabilities. In an infinite system, a pulse
disturbance that is initially of finite spatial extent may grow D
time without limit at every point in space* (an absolute instability)
or it may "propagate along" the system so that its amplitude even
tually decreases with time at any fixed point in space (a convec
tive instability).t
It is perhaps at first surprising that a disturbance that is of
finite spatial extent does not blow up in time in every case where
the real wave numbers corresponding to unstable solutions of the
dispersion equation are "excited." The representation of a spa .
tially bounded disturbance, however, requires the superposition
of many real wave numbers in the form45
,
46
!
^O
f(k)ej
[w(k)t-kz]
dk
~
( . )
(see also Appendix A). The limiting value of this integral as t O
(and z is held constant) is not necessarily infinite, even when some
real k values yield solutions of the dispersion equation [w(k)] with
W
i
5 since a decaying function can be represented as a super
position of many growing exponentials, as in the usual theory of
Laplace transforms. The physical reason for this is that the pulse
disturbance may convect away from its origin as it grows in am
plitude, as was pointed out by Sturrock.46
*In a physical system, the amplitude of the oscillation is, of
course, limited by nonlinear effects. For clarity in the discus
sions that follow, however, we will loosely refer to cases where
the linearized analysis indicates exponential growth in time as a
"response tending to infinity."
tClearly, the labeling of an instability is always with respect
to a particular reference frame, since a convective instability
would appear as an absolute instability to an observer moving
along with the "pulse." Thus one should realize that the term
"absolute" instability adopted here does not imply growth in time
at every point in space in every reference frame.
J Amplifying Waves and Absolute Instability
Absolute instability Convective instability
Figure .1, Evolution of pulse disturbance in an unstable system.
To illustrate these ideas, "snapshot" views of some hypotheti
cal convective and absolute instabilities are shown in Figure . 1.
We see that the distinguishing characteristic of an absolute in
stability is that it "spreads out" in both directions at once so that
when the disturbance reaches a point, this disturbance keeps on
growing in time at this point. The convective instability, on the
other hand, "propagates along" the system as it grows in time so
that the disturbance eventually disappears if one stands at a fixed
point. Another physical interpretation of the distinction between
these two is that the presence of an absolute instability implies
that the system has an "internal feedback" mechanism so that os
cillations can grow in time without the necessity of reflections
from some termination of the system, whereas a convective in
stability requires such reflections (or an external feedback) for
oscillations to grow exponentially in time at any fixed point in
space.
In many cases one also may be interested in the sinusoidal
steady-state response of a system at a particular (real) frequency.
(It is crucial, however, as the development in this chapter shows,
to ascertain whether such a steady-state in time can exist.) A
problem which then arises is the interpretation of solutions that
yield complex wave numbers k ~ k
r
+ jk
i
for this real frequency.
In a "passive" system, as, for example, an empty waveguide,
one would state on purely physical grounds that this solution rep
resents decay in space away from some source; that is, it rep
resents an "evanescent" (decaying) wave. In an "active" system
that has a "pool" of energy in its unperturbed state, however (as,
for example, a system containing an electron beam), such a solu
tion could represent spatial growth of a sinusoidal time signal.
That is, it could represent an "amplifying wave." In complicated
cases, it is often not clear physically which situation prevails.
Oe of te main purposes of this analysis is to determine a math
ematical procedure for distinguishing such waves. Note that in
the following, te terms "amplifying" and "evanescent" wave will
be used only in connection with real values of the frequency U
h addition, note that we are not restricting the term "evanescent
wave" to the case of lossless systems, as is sometimes done.
Green's Function Formalism 11
In Sturrock's development,
46
he concludes that a convective in
stability is basically of the same type as an amplifying wave. That
is, the process of spatial amplification of a sinusoidal time signal
is really a form of "spatial instability" of the system. This result
is also borne out by the analysis in the following sections, and the
connection between the two is considered in some detail in Section
2.4.
Since in complicated cases there may be many solutions of the
dispersion equation that have complex k for real U the criteria
on amplifying and evanescent waves developed in the following sec
tions are needed in order to sort out which imaginary part of com
plex k for real U represents the "spatial growth rate" of a con
vective instability. In most cases, this growth rate in space at a
real frequency is a more useful measure of the strength of a con
vective instability than is the maximum negative imaginary part
of U for real k (temporal growth rate).
Z,Z Green's Function Formalism for the Response to a Localized
Source
In order to determine the physical meaning of the roots of the
dispersion equation as discussed in the previous section, we shall
consider explicitly the excitation of these waves by a source. The
simplest situation to investigate is that of a system which is in
finitely long in the z
-
direction and excited by a source confined to
a finite region of space (Figure 2.2). The response of the system
outside of the source region Z d is a linear combination of
some of the "normal modes," or "natural responses," of the sys
tem. These normal modes are given by the solutions to the dis
persion equation (2.1).
*
Uni f orm
sy stem

S ource Uniform
sy stem
/
..,
-d d
Figure 2.2. Driven system.
If we were considering only the question of distinguishing be
tween amplifying and evanescent waves, we might be tempted to
assume that sinusoidal steady-state conditions prevail, and pro-
*
The term "normal modes" will be taken to mea.n both the solu
tions for k at some fixed U from Equation 2.1, an.d the solutions
for U at some fixed k. Exactly which situation prevails in the fol
lowing should be clear from the context.
J AnpIiIying wave s and AhsoIute hstahiIity
ceed to inve stigate whether ornotany wave s can heexcited which
grow in space away Ironthe source region, lhercarcat Ieast
two oh] ections tothi s procedure (1) In order tonegIectthe re-
IIe ctions Iron terninations oIthc systen, wc nust I et the Iength
oI the systen approach inIinityheIore ( or Ias ter than) we Iettine
approachinIinity (to attain steady- statc conditions ) , ( ) wc nay
anticipate thatiIahsoIute instahiIitie s are pres ent , the systen
viIInever attain sucha steady state ,
Both oI thes e diIIicuItie s can he avoidedhy considering the ex-
citation oIthis inIinitc systen hya s ourcethat i s zero Ior t 5 ,
lhi s aIIows us to studythe nanner inwhich the systen approache s
the steady s tate , iIindeed it doe s s oat aII , II we Iookat the as -
ynptotic tine re sponscoIthe systenat sone Iixedpo sition out-
s\de oI the source region, we nayIindthatthere is a disturhance
increasing exponentiaIIy with tine, i nwhich case thcre i s anah-
s oIute instahiIity, On the otherhand, iI thcre are no ahsoIute in-
stahiIitie s , this asynptoti c re spons e , Ior the case oIa s inusoidaI
excitation, shouIdhe sinusoidaIwithtine at the s ourc eIrequency.
IIthe asynptotic tine response contains anynornaI nodes that
are spatiaIIy incr easing away Ironthe sour ce region, the s e are
cIearIy anpIiIying wave s ,
In this approach, we are suppre s s ing the roIe oI anyternina-
tions oIthe systen in ordertocstahIishthis hasic causaIity oI
thewave s onthe uniIorn systen; however , wc shouI daIways keep
innind that thes eterninations naypIayan inportant roIe inthe
hehavior oI a givenphys icaI systen, lhis i s dis cus s ed nor e IuIIy
in Section . o .
we wiII indicate the r e sponseo I the systen in Figurc , hy thc
variahIe
|
( t, z , 7
l
)
.
whi ch synhoIize s any ( or aII) oIthe physi caI
variahIe s in the prohIen, Here7
l
is the po s ition vector in the
pIane transvers e to the z -direction, SiniIarIy, the s our ce Iunc-
tion wiIIhewritten as s (t, z, r
l
) , lhc r e sponse can he given in
terns oI the sour cehya rcIation oI the Iorn

|
( t, z , F
l
)
,
K( t - t, z - z , F
l
, F_) s ( t , z, F

) d_ dz dt
( . l)
where K i s the Greens Iunction; that i s , it i s the re spons e at the
po sition ( t, z , F
l
) ari sing Ironan inpuIs e sourceIocated at (t,z ,r

)
and the integrationi s over the space-tine voIune occupiedhy the
sour ce s , Her e , K is a Iunction oI (t - t) and (z - z) , ratherthan
each oI thes evariahIe s s eparateIy, s ince the systen is honogeneous
inthe s e coordinate s , For notationaI convenienc e, we wiII take the
s our ce Iunctionto he oIthc Iorn
( . 4)
Greens Function FornaIi sn 1l
where I(t) ~ Ior t 5 , lhi s IornoI the source Iunctioni s suI-
I:c:entIy generaI Ior our purpo s e s . we nowperIorn!apIace
transIornations with r e spectto tine and a Fourier transIorna-
tionwith respecttothe spatiaI coordinate z . A Fourier trans -
Iorni nspace can aIways he perIorned Ior aII Iinite tine s he-
caus e oIthe Iinite speedoIpropagation oIany disturhance. lhe
Iorn oIthe se transIornations is iIIustratednow Ior the sour ce
Iunctions g( z) and I(t)
and
g( z)
7
g(k)
7
I(t) 7
.
.

.
g (k) e
-kz
dk

g( z) e
] kz
dz

..
.
do
I(o) e
)
ot
.

I(o) ,
.
I(t) e
-] ct
dt

( , 5 )
( , o )
( , 7)
( , )
lhe integrationi nFquation , l i s carriedout aIong the reaI~
k axis, and the integration in Fquation . 7 is carri edout aIong
the Iine o
i
~ ^O lhe integration in Fquation , 7 nus t he car -
riod outheIowaII s inguIaritie s oI I(o) in order that I(t) he zero
Ior t 5 , SiniIar transIorns appIy t oaII other quantitie s; the s e
transIorns wiII aIways he writtenwith the sane synhoIas the
physicaI variahIe except that the IunctionaI dependence is r epIaced
hy o andJor k,
Forthe purpo s eoIdi stingui shing hetween anpIiIying and evan-
e s cent wave s at sone reaI Irequency o
a
, we wiII usuaIIy consider
an excitation oIthe Iorn
(
2.
9)
and thereIore
14 AnpIiIying wave s and AhsoIute InstahiIity
I(o)
g
1
( , 10)
AI s onotethat s ince we are as suning a IocaIized s our c e , g( z) ~
Ior z d; Ironthis Iactand Iron an inspection oI quation , o
i t IoIIows that g(k) i s an entir e Iunction oI k (has nopoIe s in the
Iinite k-pIane) as Iong as g( z) is a reasonahIe Iunction oI z . As
anexanpIc oIg( z) , consider thc spatiaI puI s e showi nFigure , l ,
lhe transIorn in this case i s] ust
@\z!

Figure , l , FxanpIe oI g ( z) ,

(k)
g
sin (kd)
g
kd
( , 1)
ByappIying the transIorns to quation , l , the transIornoI
the re spons e can he written as
( , 1)
where
( ,1l)
lhe IunctionG( o, k, 7
l
) i s] ust the transIornoI the Green! s
Iunction weighted hy the transvers edependence oI the s our ce
Iunction, h s inpIe case s , the source Iunction l( r _) can he cho-
s en so as to s eIectonIy one oI the transvers e eigennode s Ior con-
s ideration at a tine , aIthoughit i s not ne ces sarythat thi s he done ,
lhe actuaI r espons e in space and tine i s r ecoveredhy appIying
inver se transIorns; it can he written in the Iorn
|(t ,z)

_
_
)
_
_

)
_
_
t-
)
-

IZ"

( , 14)
wher e thedependence onF
l
is suppre s s ed Ironher e onIor s in-
pIicityinnotation,
FrooIoICr iteria 15
Fquation ,14 sunnari ze s the de siredIornaIisn; inthe next
s ectionthe generaI character oI the asyptotic Iinit oI the r e-
spons e in tine wiIIhe deternined hyinve stigating this integraI
expre s sion,
Z,3 Proof of Criteria on Amplif_ng Waves and Absolute Ista
bilities
lhe generaI IornaIisn expres sing the res pons e oI an inIiniteIy
Iong systen to a IocaI ized s ourc e that i s turnedon at t ~ 0 was
deveIopedintheIast s e ction, Inthis s e ction, we shaII speciaIize
tothe case oI a s inus oidaI sourc ei norder tohring out the appear -
ance oIanpIiIying wave s no st cIearIy, lhe res pons e givenhy
Fquation , 14 canhewrittenintheIorn
( t, z)
wherewedeIine

t
do
F( o z) I(o) e
)
o
- ,

.
dk
F( o, z) ~ G( o, k) g( k) e
-
!
kz

-
and wher e I(o) i s givenhy Fquation ,10 ,
( ,15)
( ,1o )
lhe integraI in Fquation ,15 i s carried out aIong a Iine heIow
the r eaI-oaxi s , as showinFigure , 4, lhe causaIity condition
=:
Laplace contour
'/ // /////
F ( =,z) analytic in
shaded region
Figure , 4, AnaIytic r egion oI F( o, z ) ,
denands that F(o,z) he anaIyticheIow the Iine o
i
~ *O in order that
the respons ehe zeroIor t 5 , A que stionwhichinnediateIy
arise s is howIarge nust he , lhe answer t othis que stionwiII
hecone cIearerduring the dis cus s ion oIthe anaIytic continuation
oI F(o, z); however , one can predict in advance onpureIyphys icaI
Jo AnpIiIying wave s andAhsoIute InstahiIity
grounds that it shouId suIIicient Ior U to he Iarger than the
Ias te s t growth rate in tine oI any unstahIe node , That i s ,
shouIdheIarger than the naxinunnegative inaginary part oI c
Ior reaI k,
, l , F( c, z) as a Sun oINornaIMode s , The Iunction F( c, z )
contains the z - dependence oI the re sponse ( t , z ) , FhysicaIIy, we
know that the r esponse ina source-Iree region z> d shouIdhe
expre s sihIe as a sun over the nornaI node s oIthe undriven sys-
ten, In sinpIe cas e s , the Green! s IunctionG( c, k) has poIe s in
the conpIex k-pane ( Ior sone IIxed conpIex c on the LapIace
contour) at] ustthe nornaI nodewave nunher s , The s eare the
roots oI the disper s ion equation ( , ) Ior that particuIar c, Fron
Fquation , o , and the Iactthat g( z) ~ 0 Ior z> d, it IoIIows that
g(k) e
-
!
kz
0 Ior k -] and z> d, As an exanpIe , consider the
particuIar g(k) Iunction givenhy Fquation , , 1he integraI in
Fquation , o can thereIorehe cIo sedin the Iower-haIIk-pane Ior
z d as Iong as G( c, k) i s suIIicientIy weIIhehaved at k -]( Fig-
ure , 5) , This as sunption is a reasonahIe one , since thi s cIosur e
oI the integraI aIIows F(c,z) to he expre s sedas a sun over the ap-
propriate nornaI nodes hythe theory oI res idue s , Note that g (k)
i s anentir e IunctionandthereIore doe s not contrihute any terns
tother e s idue evaIuation,
X
!:
X
Fourier contour
closed as shown
f or z d
Figure , 5 , F( c, z ) as a sun oI nornaI node s ,
In nore conpIicated cas e s , G( c, k) Ior a Iixed c can have hranch
Iine s inthek-pIane , 1his can he interpretedphys icaIIy as a
tinuun oInornaI nodes , as Ior exanpIe , the Van Kanpennodes
Ior IongitudinaI o s ciIIations in a hot coIIi sione s s pIasna,

or in
cas e s invoIving radiation Iron open structure s , For sinpIicity,
we shaIInot consider thes e cas e s in the IoIIowing dis cus s ion, This
approach can he extended to cover the s e cas e s , hut each case in-
voIving suchhranchIine s nust hehandIedindividuaIIy, As an ex~
anpIe , the hranch Iines that oc cur in the case oI a hot, coIIision-
Ie s s pIasna are consideredin Appendix B.
Having res tri ctedour seIves to the case wherethe onIy s ingu-
Iaritie s oIG(c,k) inthe k-pane Ior s one c on the LapIace contour
FrooIoI Criteria J7
arepoIe s at the roots oI A(c, k)
g
0, we can write the Iunction
F(c,z) as a sun oInornaI node s in the Iorn
( . J7)
Ior z d. The sun in Fquation . J7 i s over aII root s (
*
) oI
A c, k)
g
0 that have wave nunhers k intheIower -haII k-pIane
andwhere c is sone Irequencyonthe LapIace contour (c
i
g
^O)
For z - d, the integraI in Fquation .1o i s cIo s ed in the upper -
haIIk-pIane , and a s iniIar expre s sion Ior F( c, z) vaIid Ior z - d
i s ohtained, except that the sun i s over aII poIes oI G( c, k) in the
upper-haIIk-pIane [k(c)] . Note that the dependence oI the Iunc~
tion F( c, z) on z is that oI (a sun oI) exponentiaI ternsthataII
decay awayIronthe source region Ior any c on the LapIace con-
tour .
. AnaIytic Continuation oIF( c, z). The detaiIedre sponse
( Ior any givenphysicaI s ituation) couIdi nprinc\pIe he conputed
hy carrying out the pres crihedintegration aIong the LapIace con-
tour inFquation . J5 . Since our ain i s onIy to dis cover sone
generaI charactcristic s oIthe asynptotic r e spons e , however , it
is convenient to deIornthe LapIace integration as Iar as pos sihIe
into the upper~haIIc-pIane , Inthis procedure , it i s cIear that
the re spons e inthe Iinit as t O i s governedhy the Iowes t sin-
guIarity oIF(c, z) I(c) inthec-pIane . InparticuIar , iI F( c, z) i s
anaIytic in the entire Iower -haIIc~pIane and aIong the reaI~c axi s ,
the doninant ternari s es Iron the poIe oI I(c) at c
e
.
s ince the con-
trihution Ironthe r e st oIthe integraIhecone s exponentiaIIy snaII
as t O ( Figure , o).
"!

Figure , o , DeIorned LapIace con-

tour Ior asynptotic r espons e oIa
systen with no ahsoIute instahiIi-
tie s ,
Fronthe preceding dis cus s ion, the singuIaritie s o I F( c, z)are
cIearIy oIprine inportance indeternining the asynptotic tine
re spons e oIthe systen. To expIore the anaIyticity oI F( c, z), it
is convenient to think oIhoIding the r eaI part oI c IixedwhiIe
varying the inaginarypart oI c ( Figure . 7a). NaturaIIy, this
proce s s nusthe repeatedIor aII r eaIpart oI c. Fron the orig-
inaI deIinitionoI F( c, z) , as gihyFquation . Jo , ( andIron
the repres entation inFigure s . 5 and. 7), it i s cIear that F( c, z)

^
.
r
AnpIiIying waves and AhsoIute InstahiIity

|
Fourier contour
in Equation Z.l6
X
~ r

r
~

- - ---J

~
.
As the f requency VO ri es
as shown, the poles of
0(w,k) in the k-plone
m ove os shown in (b).
|01
'
X
|1
Pole crossing
real ~

axis
Figure . 7 . FxpIoring the anaIyticityoIF(c, z),
i s a weII-hehaved Iunction oI c unIes s one oIthe poIe s oIG( c, k)
cro s s e s the reaI -kaxi s , as i s iIIustrated in Figure . 7h. when
this oc cur s , F( c, z)as deIinedhyFquation . o , unps invaIue
(as we cro s s the Irequencyc ~ c - a ) hyan anountequaI to
the r e sidue atthe poIe that cros sedthe reaI-kaxis , That is , in
the c-pIane , the Iine s oI conpIex c Ior reaI k ohtainedhy soIving
A( c, k) = 0 Ior aII reaI k are hranchIine s oI the Iunction F( c, z)
as deIinedhyFquation . Jo ( Figure . ).
^
Contours of
com plex
f or real k
r
Figure . . BranchIine s oI F( c, z),
For a poIe oIG(c, k)to cross the reaI-kaxis Ior s one c inthe
Iower-haIIc~pane ( such as c ~ c - c in Figure , 7), it nust
IoIIowthat the dispers ion equation ( . 1) yieIds conpIexc soIutions
withnegative inaginaryparts Ior sone reaI k, That i s , it nust
hetruethat the inIinite , honogeneous s ysten supports unstahIe
wave s , It i s now cIear that a shouIdh e cho s en Iargerthan the
naxinun growth rate in tine oI any unstahIe wave to s ati sI the
causaIity r equirenent, as was s tatedheIore. we as sune that
uis naxinun growth rate in tine is hounded, that i s , that there
ar e no unstahIe wave s with an inIiniteIy Ias t growth rate in tine,
The Iunction F(c,z) can he anaIyticaIIy continued through the s e
hranchIine s , this anaIytic continuation i s eIIectedhyr edeIining
F c, z) in its integraI Iornas
!
F( c, z)
~
-
C
G( c, k)g(k)e
-kz
( . 1)
FrooI oI Criteria 19
wher e the contour C continues to incIude (or excIude) any poIe s
oI G( c, k) that cro s s the r eaI~k axi s as c tends towards the reaI~c
axis ( Figure , 9 ) , The Iunction
p
(c, z) is cIearIythe anaIytic con-
tinuation oI F(c,z), since theyare identicaIIy equaIheIow the Iine
c
i
U and
p
(c, z) doe s nothave the s ehranc_ Iine s aIong the con-
tour s oIconpIex c Ior reaI k, The Iunction F(c,z) can aI s o he
Poles of 0 |

,k) move as shown

below as the frequency is brought
up from the Laplace contour
Figure , 9 , DeIinition oI contour C ,
given in the Iorn oIa sun over the poIe s oIG( c, k) , as in Fqua-
tion , 17, with the inpIication that onIy the poIe s oIG(c, k)that
have k in the Iower~haIIk-pIane when c

enter in the sun

( Ior z d),
, l , l AnpIiIying and Fvane s cent wave s , II we as sune Ior the
nonent that this anaIytic continuation oI F(c, z) can he carried
out to a Iine us t ahove the r eaI~c axis w\thout encountering any
other s inguIaritie s , thenhydeIorning the integration over U as
showi nFigure , o, weohtain the asynptotic dependence oIthe
re sponse as
-
ct
Iin ( t, z) F(c , z)e
t
Iron Fquations ,15 and ,10 ,
( ,19 )
In Figure , 9 a poIe suchas A i s cIearIyan anpIiIying wave ,
since it has the space dependence exp (+oz) and it appear s in the
re sponse Ior z d, SiniIarIy, the poIe B i s an anpIiIying wave
that appear s Ior z -d, The other roots show in the Iigure are
ohviousIyevane s c ent wnves , Thus , the deternination oIthe Iocus
oI k Ior aII nornaInodes as c i s varied Iron c t o (c - c) pro-
vide s the de s ir ed criterionIor di stingui shing hetween anpIiIying
and evane s cent wave s ,
0 AnpIIIyIng wave s and AhsoIute InstahIIIty
, l , 4 AhsoIute InstahIIItIe s . There Is a n ore IundanentaI dII-
IIcuItywith the anaIytic contInuatIon oI F( c, z) when two poIe s oI
G( c, k) n erge throughthe contour C Inthe k-pIane to Iorn a douhIe-
order poIe ( FIgure , I 0a) , SInce the IntegratIon InFquatIon ,
_ConJour C
^
X
|01
r
_i
rs
s ;_

~ =~ =g s rs lP
s
|D1
FIgure , 0 , MergIng oIpoIe s through contour C IeadIng to an
ahsoIute InstahIIIty,
n usthe carrIed out hetween the two n ergIng poIe s , thIs res uIts
In a sInguIarIty oI the IunctIon
p
( c, z) at that vaIue oI c, InFIg-
ure , I 0h, as we I et the paran eter c - c
s
tend t o zero, the two
poIe s oI k n ergeIn the k-pIane as show. One wouId expectIn-
tuItIveIy, wIthout perIorn Ing anydetaIIed aIgehra, that the Iunc-
tIon
p
( c, z ) shouId tend to InIinIty In the IIn It as c - c
s
tends to
zero, sInce the IntegratIon path C hecon e s stuck and cannothe
deIorn edaround the two n ergIng poIe s .

The appearance oI thIs sInguIarItyIs perhaps hes t s een Iron

the expres sIon Ior
p
( c, z ) as a sun oI re sIdue s at the poIe s oI
G( c, k) , as gIvenhyFquatIon , 7 . At a douhIe rooto I k , Ior
,
on e
(c
s
.
k
s
) , we have ( Jk G
-
:
)
c
,
.
k
s
g
0 , and the dIspersIon equatIon
near the douhIe root Is approxIn ateIy
( . 0)
Note aI s othatthe condItIon Ior a douhIe r ootoI k Iron the dIs~
per sIon equatIonI s the san e asthe conditIon Ior a saddI e poInt
oIthe IunctIonc(k) , that Is , cJk = ,

One can easIIy check, hy eIen entaryn eans , that the IntegraI
aIong thc r eaI -xaxIs oI I J( x- ]) | or IJ( x - ])
-
| Is IinIte In the
IIn It as e tends to zero, whereas the IntegraI oI I J( x - ] e) (x
,
] e)]
tends to inIInIty Iike I Je as e tends to zero ,
Proof of Criteria
If we use Equation . 0 in Equation , I7, we find that
~
F(w, z)

8G
-
I8ZGI
aW 8k'
w k
s
'
s
I
1
( . 1 )
near w w
s
' for either z d or z <
-
d. (Equation . I is cor
rect within a sign. which can be determined only from a de
tailed consideration of the pole loci.) Therefore. this merging
of the poles of G(w, k) through the contour C leads to a branch
pole of F(w. z) at U = w
s
. Note also that this branch pole is ob
tained for both z d and z 5 -d and that the expression for F(w. z)
is the same in both regions for w w
s
. This branch pole of F(w, z)
does not arise if two poles that are both below or both above the
contour C merge into a double pole. since two terms (or none)
then enter in the sum of residues in Equation . 7 , and these can
be shown to cancel each other in the limit w " w
s
. This is to be
expected, since a double-order pole that lies inside of a closed
contour makes a finite contribution to the contour integral when
the integral is evaluated by residue calculus. That is. the limit
of F(w. 7) as w - W
s
tends to zero. is now finite because the in
tegration path C does not lie between the merging poles.
This branch pole of F{w. z) must be taken into account in the in
tegration in the w-plane. and the lowest singularity in the w-plane
becomes the dominant term as t (Figure . 1 ) . (Note again
Figure , I , Integration in w-plane with absolute instability.
that the entire lower-half w-plane must be explored to determine
which is the lowest such singularity.) In this case we have an ab
solute instability because the disturbance is blowing up in time at
every point in space.* In the limit of t the asymptotic re
sponse can be evaluated as
*This formulation of the condition for an absolute instability
has been given by Derfler56 for the case of the double-stream in
stability in a plasma.
Amplifying Waves and Absolute Instability
(t, z)
( . )
where the double root of k occurs for k ~ k
s
and w ~ w
rs
- j<
s
.
It is interesting to note that, since k
s
is in general complex, this
asymptotic response can have an exponential envelope in space.
The expression given in Equation . is not valid for very large
z near the "wave front" of the disturbance because we have held
z fixed as we let t approach infinity.
It is also possible that a triple pole of k can occur at some
(w
s
,k
s
) [(azG-1/akZ)
s
~ 0| , or that (aG
-
1/aw)
s
~ 0 at a double pole
of k, and so forth. These singular cases will, in general, occur
only for particular values of the system parameters, since they
represent additional "constraints" at the point (w
s
' k
s
). The ex
tension of the present results to cover these singular cases has
been given elsewhere.57 In the general case, it is clear that a
singularity of F(w, z) arises whenever one or more poles from one
side of the C contour merge together with one or more poles from
the other side of the C contour, regardless of the order of the root.
An entirely different type of singularity of F(w, z ) can arise at a
frequency w
e
for which / k /- that is, at a frequency for which
1
~ ~ C(c w )
k
n
e
( . l)
as w - w
e
, where n is some integer (and, in fact, n ~ in all
physical examples of which the author is aware). This leads to
an essential singularity of F(w, z) at w ~ w
e
'
since from Equation
.J7 we have
( . 4)
near w .. w
e
.
*
Note that this essential singularity of F(w, z ) has
nothing to do with poles of G(w, k) merging through the C contour,
*
There can be several terms of this form in the expression for
F(w, z) if more than one root of k from Equation . l lies on the
appropriate side of the C contour. Also, if of the root

of
Equation . l lies, for example, below the C contour, then F(w, z)
will not have a singularity at w
e
for z d.
Convective Ins tahiIitie s l
and Ior this reason it can appear on one side o I the source ( s ay
z d) and not on the other ( z < -d) , ( we recaII that the hranch
poIe type oI singuIarity ari s ing Ironne rging poIe s , which was
dis cus s edheIore, nustne ce s sariIy appear onhoth sides oI the
sourc e, ) IIc
e
i s in the Iower-haIIc-pIane , it IoIIows thatin our
nodeI oIthe systenwe are aIIowing Ior unstahIe node s with an
inIiniteIy shortwaveIen

th, we can thereIore ignore the s e e s-

sentiaI singuIaritie s oIF(o,z) in the IornuIation oI the stahiIity
criteria iIwe are anaIyzing a nodeI in whichthere are no un-
stahIe node s with a Iinite growth rate in tine Ior an inIiniteIy
shortwaveIength (k O) , The s e e s s entiaI s inguIaritie s o F(c,z )
oIten do occur at reaI Irequencie s however , when one us es Ios s -
Ie s s nodeI s othe systen, as , Ior exanpIe , a coId, coIIision-
Ie s s nodeI oI a hean-pIasna systen. A sinpIe exanpIe oI this
type i s hrieIIydi s cus s edin Se ction . 5 .
. l. 5 Re sponset o a FuI se in Tine , The space-tine dependence
oIthe asynptotic r e sponse as givenhy Fquation . i s e s s entiaIIy
independent oI the sour ce tine Iunctionwhenthere is an ah soIute
instahiIity pre s ent ,

In parti cuIar , iII(t) corres ponds to a puI se

i ntine , then I(c) i s anentire Iunction oI c and the asyptotic
re sponse is aIways deterninedhythe Iowest singuIarity oIF(c,z)
i nthe c-pIane , eveni I this s inguIarity i s i nthe upper-haIIc~pIane ,
The consideration oI a puI s e excitation aI s overiIie s that the
criterion derived i s consi stentwith the physicaI de s cription oI
ahs oIute instahiIitie s giveninSection . J. For a puI s e s our ce ,
the re spons eatthe instant the s ourc eanpIitude returns to zero
wiIIheoIIinite spatiaI extent , since the speedoIpropagation oI
aII signaI s i s Iinite , The hehavior oIthis IiniteIy extendedwave-
Iorn on the undriven systen as t O can thenhe deternined,
this r e spons ewiIIrenain Iinite or decaywithtine at everyIixed
point i nspaceunIe s s F(o,z ) has a hranchpoIe i nthe Iower-haII
c-pIane , that i s , unIe s s the systen supports an ahsoIute instahiI-
ity as deternined hy the criterion given in Section . l , 4.
In the next s ection, a nor e detaiIedanaIysi s oIthe propagation
oIpuI s e di sturhances is given in order to hring out sone addition-
aI aspects oIthe spatiaI and tenporaI growth oIsignaI s in un-
stahIe systens ,
. 4 Fropagation oI FuI s e Di sturhances and ReIations Between
TenporaI andSpatiaI Growth Rate s oIConvective InstahiIitie s ,
The usuaI statenent onthe stahiIity o I a wave i s whether o r
notthe disper s ion equation yieIds conpIex c Ior reaI k ( with

i
< 0 ) , It was s tatedin Section . J that a puI s e disturhance on

Thi s s tatenent i strue so Iong as the sour c e doe s nothave an

exponentiaIIy increasing anpIitude ata rate that i s greater than
the growth rate oI the ahsoIute instahiIity,
4 AnpIIIyIng wave s and AhsoIute InstahIIIty
a systenwhIch Is unstahIehy thIs deIInItIon wIII aIways hIow
pp' In anpIItude , even though It nay appear to decrease In tIne
at a IixedpoInthecauseIt couId convectaIong the s ysten as It
hIows up, The vaIIdIty oI thIs statenentIs not ohvIous Ironthe
anaIysIsIn SectIon , l , sInce we aIways Inve st\gatedthe asyp-
totIc re spons eat a IIxedpoIntI nspace , The statenent I s anIn-
portant one , however , andIs e stahIIshedInthe pres ent s ectIon,
ItIs shown, hyaIIowIng z and t to tendtoInIinIty ata IIxedratIo
(veIocIty) , that a veIocIty caIways he Iound Ior whIcha puIse
dIsturhance appear s t oIncrease exponentIaIIy wIth tIne at the
naxInun growth rate oI anyunstahIe wave [naxInun ( -c
I
; Ior
r eaI k] , ThIs veIocIty Is propo sed as a deIInItIon oI the propaga-
tIon veIocIty oIthe puI s e on an unstahIe systen.
Sturrock, InhIs pIoneerIng work,
+s
noted a very cIos e conne c~
tIon hetween the concepts oI anpIIIyIng wave s and conve ctIve In~
stahIIItIe s , ThIs conne ctIon Is expIoredIn the s econd part oIthIs
s e ctIon, whe reIt Is shown that the dIIIerence In the s e concept s
IIe s onIyIn the excItatIonheIng consIdered (puI se or sInusoIdaI
In tIne) and not Inthe propertIe s oI the nedIun, It Is shown, Ior
exanpIe , that In a systen whIch supports convectIve InstahIIItIes
and has no ahsoIute InstahIIItIe s , there nust exIst one or nore
roots oIthe dIsper sIon equatIon wIth conpIex k Ior reaI c whIch
are anpIIIyIng wave s (that Is , they enter In the r e sponse on the
sIde wher e theyappear spatIaIIy growIng andnot decayIng) , In
addItIon, upper and Iower hounds on the naxInun anpIIIIcatIon
rate In terns oI the tenporaI growth rate oI convectIve InstahII-
ItIe s are gIven,
. 4. 1 FropaatIon oIa FuIse DIsturhance . In the anaIysIs oI
Se ctIon , l , the r e sponse was Inve stIgatedInthe IInIt oIt O
Ior IIxed ( IInIte; vaIue s oI z, To denonstrate that a puI s e dIs~
turhance does hIow pp

InanpIItude ( even IIItconvects aIong
the systen) In every case wher e the systen supports unstahIe
wave s , we shaII Inve stIgate theInpuIse re spons eoIthe sys ten
IntheIInIt oIt O and z O wIth
z = Vt
,
Z ( , 5 )
where V Is a certaIn IixedveIocIty and Z renaIns IInIte. ( we
couId, oIcour s e , handIe thIs prohIen hytrans IornIng Into a
reIerence Irane novIng wIth re spect to the IahoratoryIrane ,
we choos enot to do thIs hecaus e oI the conpIIcatIons Introduce d
hya reIatIvIstIcaIIy correct transIornatIon. The asynptotIc
re sponse we caIcuIate, thereIore, Is the one neasuredIn the Iah-
oratoryIrane wIththeIahoratorytIne t, when the neasurIng
Instrunent nove s wIththe veIocIty V, )
IIthe pIot oIconpIex c Ior reaI k In the IahoratoryIrane I s
as shown In FIgure , , whereU Is the naxInun negatIve In-
Conve ctive InstahiIitie s 5
W
Q mcxmum
(-
w
) for reoI k

r
_pB Vg ,
.

k
e
Figure , 1 , Sketch oI conpIex c Ior reaI k.
aginary part oI c Ior reaI k, then i t wiII heprovedthat anoh-
server noving with veIocity
c
r

k
k=k
( , o)
wiII see the di sturhance increase as exp (ct ) . That i s , the veIoc -
ity givenhyFquation , o i s a sensihIe deIinition oI the propa~
gation veIocity oI the puI s e on an unstahIe systen, wher e k is
the reaI wave nunher Ior whichthe naxinun negative inaginary
part oI c Ior reaI k oc cur s , andc
r
i s the corr e sponding r eaI
part oIc.
To prove thi s r esuIt, we write the inpuI s e r e sponse |( t ,z ) as
a Iunction oI t and the initiaI po sition z . with z( t) heing givenhy
Fquation , 5 , Fron Fquation , 4, the inpuI s er e spons e can
he written as

,
-] c .

( )
"
G k)
)
(c-kV) t -
)
kz dk dc
t , z ~ c, e e
.
( )
->-
)
c .
( . 7)
For an inpuIs e excitationi ntine and space , s( c, k)
7
I(c) g(k) ~ 1.
IIwe deIine a newIrequencyvariahIe
c = - kV ( , )
thenwe can write the re spons e in a Iornwhich i s conpIeteIy anaI -
ogous to that given in Fquations ,15 and ,1o
( , 9)
where
o
and
AnpIiIying waves and AhsoIute InstahiIity
;

= G(c

,k) e
-] kz_ dk
-
O
G(c , k)

G(c + kV, k)
( . l0 )
( . l I )
lhe conputation oI the re spons eas t " O nowproceeds in ex-
actIythe s ane nanner as that given inSection .3, except that c
i s r epIacedhy c.
we nownote that iI V i s s et equaI to V_ ( Fquation , o ) , the
pointk = [ andc = c
r
- ] c i s a saddI e point oIc(k) , a douhIe
root oI k at that U" hecaus e
dc
dk
dc

dk
- V_ at k = k_
( . l )
In addition, it i s cIear Iron Fquation . that In c = In c
Ior reaI k, and thereIorethe naxinun negative inaginarypart
oIc(k) Ior reaI k i s aI s oequaI to c, For thi s reason, we know
that nopoIe s oI G

(c,k) can have cros sedthe reaI-kaxi s Ior any

In c -c_ ; that i s , the C contour deIinedin Section . l is the
reaI-kaxi s Ior In c - -c_ ( Figure , 1l) . lhe two contracting
Poles merging thr ough contour: Frequency var iation:
t
w

Figure , I l , Locus oI poIe s in k-pIane .

poIe s that Iorn this saddIe point oI c(k) on the r eaI -k axis ( at
k = k) nerge as show in Figure , 1l , and thi s saddIe point oI
c(k) is a s inguIarity oIF(c,z) hecaus ethepoIe s nusthe nerg-
ing throughthe C contour . I t then IoIIows Iron theIts oISec-
tion . l that the re spons e at any initiaI po s ition zincreas e s in
tine as exp (ct) Ior the choi ce V = V.
One night wor rya hit ahout the speciaI cas e where the nerging
poIe s show in Figure , J3 ] ust graze the r eaI-k axis . lhi s sit -
uationwouId Ieave sone douhtahout whether or not the poIes ac-
tuaIIy cane Iron oppo s ite haIve s oIthe k-pIane Ior Inc c_ ,
lhe approach oI c to the saddIe point, however , can henade at
Conve ctive InstahiIitie s 7
any angIe hetween 0 and -10, and notust at - 90 as showin
the Iigure .
we aI s onote, in pas sing, that it i s quite ohvious Ironthe pre -
ceding IornuIation thatnovaIue oI V can Ieadto an asynptotic
re sponse which increas e s Iaster than exp (

t) .
, 4. Conne ction Between AnpIiIying wave s and Convective
InstahiIit\e s . lhe anaIysi s in Section , l indicate s that there i s
a very cIos e connectionhetwe en anpIiIication and instahiIity; an
anpIiIying wave nust aI s o, in a s ense, he an unstahIe wave, since
the condition Ior the root to cros s the reaI -kaxi s Ior sone c in
the Iower-haIIc-pIane is preci seIy the sane as the condition Ior
conpIexc with a negative inaginarypart Ior r eaI k. Itis cIear,
thereIore, that a ne ces sary condition Ior a systen to supportan-
pIiIying wave s i s that conpIex c with a negative inaginarypart
he ohtainedIron the di spers ion equation. Inthe case oIa sys -
ten Iree Iron ahs oIute instahiIitie s, we night expect intuitiveIy
thatthis condit\on shouId he suIIicient as weII; that is, it shouId
ensure the exi stence oIanpIiIying wave s Ior sone reaI Irequency.
lhis suIIi ciencyis proved inthe IoIIowing .
we now speciaIize to the cas e oI a systen that has no ahsoIute
instahiIitie s and i s drivenhy a source oI the Iorn
s ( z,t) ~ ( z)I(t) ( , l l)
II we choos e a sinusoidaI s ourceIor I(t), as was done in Sec-
tion , l, the asynptotic re sponse i s g\venhyF(c,z)with c the
( reaI ) Ire

ency oI the sour ce (ReIation , I 9 ) , we can thereIore

interpret F(c,z)as the steady- state r e sponse oIthe inIinite
systento a sinusoidaI drive .
II, on the other hand, we excite the systen w\th an inpuIs e
sourc eI(t) ~
(t), thenthe inpuI s e r e sponse |(t,z) can hegiven
in terns oIthi s steady- state re spons e as
!
- .
do
|(t,z ) ~ F(c,z)e
)
ot.

^O
( , l4)
lhe integration ovsr c can he car riedout aIong a Iine pIaced
an inIinite sinaI anountheIow the reaI axis hecausewe are re-
stricting our attentiont o systens Iree Iron ahsoIute instahiIitie s .
Fquation , l4provide s the de siredconnectionhetween sinusoidaI
and puI s e r e spons e s, and hence aIs ohetween anpIiIying wave s
and convective ins tahiIitie s .
In the Iir stpart oIthis s ection, it was showthat |( t,z ) nay
hIow up in tine even Ior convective instahiIitie s iIwe take the
Iinit t " O and z O with z and t reIated hy Fquation , 5 , In
the pre s ent IornaIi sn, the r e sponse in this s ane Iinit can he
AnpIiIying wave s and AhsoIute InstahiIity
written in the IoIIowing Iorn, where we expre s s F(Uj z) as a sun
over the nornaI node s hy Fquation , 17
( , l 5)
we cons ider expIicitIy in the IoIIow\ng onIythe case V 0 and
anpIiIicationin the
,
z d\rection; siniIar renarks appIy to the
case V < 0 and z < ,
In the previous anaIysi s , it was shown that (t,z_) increas e s
as exp (c_t) as t Ior V V_, with V_ givenhyFquation . o ,
It i s cIear hy inspe ction oI Fquation , l 5 , since U i s r eaI in the
integration, that one oIthe nornaI node s nusthe an anpIiIying
wave over sonehand oI r eaI Ir equencyIor the integraI in Fqua~
tion , l 5 to diverge as t " O, In Iact, Ior V = V_, the integraI
in Fquation . l 5 wiII increase nore sIowIy than exp (

;
V_t), where

M
i s the naxinun anpIiI\cation rate (naxinun I nk
+
Ior reaI U
k

| .


N N

~w w+
|0J |D!
Figure ,14, SketchoIconpIex k Ior reaI U
Figure , I 4a) , we have ther eIore e stahIishedthe IoIIowing Iower
hound on the naxinun anpIiIication rate ( oIa systen IreeIron
ahsoIute instahiIitie s).
0

V_

nax ( -
i
) Ior reaI k

r
at nax [ ^U- )
k
1
( , lo)
lhe exact evaIuation oIthe asynptotic Iinit oI(t ,z_)Iron Fqua-
tion . l 5 couIdhe acconpIished in principIe hy a saddI e-point tech-
nique , In this nethod, the doninant contrihutionto the integraI
cone s Iron integrating through the point s oI stationaryphas ewhere
AppIication oI the Criteria 9
( .l7)
Note that choosing the veIocity V equaI to V
;
( Figure . I 4h)
wiII nake thepoint k = k
r;
]

;
, = c
;
, a point oI stationary
phas e, andhence Ior this veIocity the res pons ewiII increase as
exp (

M
V
;
t) as t . Since we showed in the Iir st part oIthi s
s ection that Ior any veIocity V the re spons ewiII increas e nore
sIowIy than exp (ct), we can aIs o state the IoIIow\ng upperhound
on the naxinun anpIiIication rate
( . l)
In proving that thi s i s anupperhound, however , wehave nade
use oIthe Iactthat k
i
Jc = 0 at the naxinun oIk
i
(c) Ior reaI c.
1hereIor e , we have actuaIIy as suned in thi s prooIthat the an~
pIiIication rate is Ie s s than inIinity, s ince the zero derivative oI
k
i
c) atthe naxinun wouId notbe true Ior a case in which k
i
has
a poIe at c
;
, Such case s are sonetines ohtained when ideaIized
nodeI s oIthe systen are used.
. 5 Connent s onthe ApIication oI the Criteria and Sone Fhys -
icaI Interpretations
. 5 .1 AnIiIying wave s. lhe criteria on anpIiIying and cva-
ne s cent wave s deveIopedin Sections . and . l can he stated in
the IoIIowing nanner

1o de cide whether a given wave with a

conpIexk = k
r
]k
i
Ior sone reaI c i s anpIiIying or evanes-
cent , deternine whether ornotk
i
has a diIIerent s ign when the
Irequency take s on a Iargenegative inaginary part . II it doe s,
then the wave i s anpIiIying; otherwi se, it i s an evane s cent wave .
1his statenent has a s inpIe physicaI interpretationi I we think
oI driving the systen with a s our c e that i s IocaIized in space and
has an exponentiaIIy increasing s inusoidaI tine dependence .

For
a suIIicientIyIarge exponentiaI growth in tine oI the s our ce , the
principIe oI causaIity wouId inpIy that aII wave s shouIddecay away
Iron the sour c e . lhereIore , an anpIiIying wavc shouId have the
property that it s growth constant change s ign as the Irequency
acquire s a suIIicientIy Iargenegative inaginarypart corr e sponding
to exponentiaI growth in tine .
NornaIIy, s ince one wouIdIike to knowwhich wave s are an-
pIiIying over the entire range oIreaI Irequency, the Iocus oIthe

lhi s interretation was sugge stedhy FroIe s sor A, Ber s prior

to thenathenaticaI deveIopnent given inSection . l , and was a
suhstantiaI stinuIus toward it s deveIopnent,
l0 AnpIiIying wave s and Ah soIute InstahiIity
roots oI k Iron (c,k) ~ 0 nusthe tracedin the conpIexk-pIane
Ior nany such reaI Irequencie s , It i s convenient, aIthoughnot
ne ces sary, to recordthe Iocus oIthe s e roots hoIding the reaI part
oI c Iixed ( Figur e .1 5) , ;athenaticaIIy, this operation is ]us t
r
Z

_
I Z

_
Figure .J5. ;apping oIc(k) Ior an anpIiIying wave ,
a napping oI the Iine s oI constant reaI partoI c into the conpIex
k-pIane; that i s , our re suIting Iocus pIot is reaIIya contour nap
repre s entation oIthe Iunctionc(k) in the conpIex k-pIane . For a
d\spers ion equationhigher than Iir storder in c and k, oI cour s e,
there woudhenany sheets ( orhranche s ) oI the Iunctionc( k) heing
traced, and notust one as depicted in Figure , 5 ,
. 5 , Ahsoiute InstahiIitie s , lhis napping operationaIs o in-
dicate s whether ornot any ahsoIute ins tahiIitie s arepre sent. An
ahsoIute instahiIitv i s ohtainedwhenever ther e i s a douhIe rootoI
k Ior sone conpIex c inthe Iower -haIIc-pIane Ior whi chthe two
nerging roots cone Iron diIIerent haIve s oI the conpIexk~pIane
( upper and Iower) when c has a Iargenegative inaginarypart ( Fig-
ure ,1 o) . 1he condition Ior a douhIe root oI k at k ~ k
s
Ior s one
c ~
s
i s the sane as the condition that the Iunctionc(k) have a
saddIe point at k = k
s
, s ince [U - c
s
) ~ (k - k
s
)
near this point .
lhe generaIIorn oI sucha saddIe point shouIdhe as show in
Figure .1 o, Its appearance shouIdhe ohvious when the Iines oI
constant r eaI part oI c are constructedinthe k-pIane eveniIthe
dens ity oI the se Iine s is IairIyrough, as wiII he evident when
the criteria ar e appIied to various exanpIe s inthe Iater chapter s.
lhere i s an inter e sting Ieature ahout the saddIe point oI c(k) iI-
Iustratedin Figure , Jo whichaI s o occur s in s everaI physicaI ex-
anpIe s dis cus s edinChapter s 4 and 5. Inthe Iigure the rootthat
has conpIex k Ior reaI c enter s in the re spons e Ior z -d when

r
c
r s
andenters Ior z d whenc
r
c
r s
over the range oIreaI
Irequencyheing considered. Since k
i
0 Ior reaI c, this node is,
ina s ens e , ananpIiIying wave Ior c
r
c
r s
and an evane s cent
wave Ior c
r
c
r s
Sincethe asynptotic tine re spons e ari s e s
IargeIy Iron the contrihution near the saddIe point in the c-pIane
AppIication oI the Criteria
Enters in
kj
respon se f or
/ " -d
Root of
complex k
f or real =
En ters i n
response f or
/ d
l1
Z 4
Figur e ,1o , A s addIe point oI c(k) indicating an ahsoIute in-
stahiIity, CircIe s indicate reaI Ug square indicate s s addIe
point ,
and not Iron the integraI aIong the reaI c-axi s ( s ee Figure ,11) ,
thi s Iact i s oIIittIe cons equence in the context oI the respons e oI
aninIiniteIy Iong systen to a IocaIized s our c e , I t couIdperhaps
he oI s igniIicance in a Iinite systen, however , as i shriey dis -
cus s edin Section , o ,
It i s inportant to hear in nind that onIy the saddIe points oI
c(k) that corre spond to a ner ger oIroots Iron d\IIerent haIve s
oI the conpIexk-pIane indicate an ahsoIute ins tahiIity, lhe IoI -
Iowing di s cus s ionpr es ent s a phys icaI interpretation Ior this re-
striction,
Inagine an inIinite systen excited hy a sour ce that i s a spatiaI
inpuI s eat z = 0, II the sourcehas a conpIexIrequencywith the
inaginarypart oI this IrequencyIarger than the growh rate oI any
unstahIe wave s in the s ysten, the wave s nustaII de cayaway Iron
the sour ce, as pointed outheIor e ( Figure , I7a) , lhi s identiIies
wh\ch wave s appear Ior z 0(k
,
) and whichwave s appear in the
re spons e Ior z < 0(k_, IIwe vi suaIize the growth rate oI the
Response at a fixed time

1-e
-jk
+
Z
,z >O
Impulse source -Jok Z
1-e , z*
(a) c = c
r
- ]c, k, T
k,
Respon se at a f ixed time

- \ /
(h) U ~
s
~ c
r s
- ]

s
.
k
,
= k in urrer-haIIk-rIane
Figure , 17, Re sonance condition in an inIinite systen,
l AnpIiIying wave s and AhsoIute InstahiIity
source as decreasing , then Ior sone conpIex6 = o
r s
- ]c
s
the
s ituation night ari s e wher e k
,
and k_ hecone equaI , CIearIy,
the pr es ence oIa spatiaI inpuI s e type oI sourc e nust cause a
dis continuity in the r e spons e or one oI its spatiaI derivative s at
z = 0, when k
,
= k, , however , we can Iorn a respons e that
doe s not have any di s continuities and can he snoothIy ] oined
acros s z = 0 Figure , 17h) , lhis s ituation i s thereIore a type
oI spatiaI res onance oI this inIinite systen at that particuIar
Irequency (o
s
) hecaus e its pre s ence doe s not require a sour c e ,
lhi s i s preci seIywhat the anaIys i s in Section , l indicated, II
we excite the systen with a puI se in tine rather than a s inusoid,
I( o) i s an entire Iunction oI o in Fquation , 15 , andthe re spons e
oIthe s ysteni s deterninedhythe singuIaritie s oI F(c,z ) in the
c-pIane , AII oI the singuIaritie s oI F(o, z) ( except the e s s entiaI
singuIaritie s ari sing Ironthe inIiniteIy shortwaveIength re s o-
nances di s cus s edin Section , l , 4) oc cur at preci seIy the Ire -
quencie s Ior whichwe have such a ]oining oI k
,
- and k_-type
wave s , since thi s ']oining is precis eIy the s ane as the state-
nent that two roots oI the disper sion equation nergethrough the
C contour, as was di s cus sedin Section , l . 4. In Iact, i t was
show in that s ection that thesteady- state re spons eF(o, z) i s the
Iunction oIz Ior z 0 and z 0 Ior o o
s
, in agreenent
with thi s physi caI picture oIa res onanceoIthe inIinite s ysten,
, 5 , l AppIication oI the Criteria in SinpIe Cas e s , As was
nentionedin the previous dis cus s ions , the appIication oI the s e
criteria require s in generaI that a rather conpIete conIornaI
napping oIthe Iunctiono( k) he carried out, 0nIortunateIy, thi s
usuaIIy require s extensive nunericaI conputations; howeve r , in
sone cas e s a Iew shortcuts can he appIied which ease the Iahor ,
For instance , iIit i s known that no conpIex o in the Iower -haII
o-pIane are ohtainedIor reaI k, then there is cIearIy nopos sihiI -
ity oIeither anpIiIying wave s or ahsoIute instahiIitie s ,
Another technique which i s sonetine s useIuI i s that oI anaIyz-
ingthe di spers ion equation Ior conpIex o =
r
,
]
i
with6g ~]
thi s Iinit oIten aIIows an expIicit soIution Ior aIIpo s s ihIe ks even
Ior higher-order dispersion equations , As a s inpIe iIIustration
oIthis technique , consider the disper sion equation Ior IongitudinaI
o s ciIIations in a one- dinens ionaIhean-pIasna systen, For a
coIdhean and a coIdpIasna, this i s ( s eeSection l ,1)
p(o,k)
~
For o <
p
, thee ae CODQIe OOtB 1O K,
Ior k are
v_
( . l9)
II / o/ - the roots
( , 40)
Dis cus s ion l l
and thereIor ehoth r oots arei nueIower-haIIk-pIane when c
i
~,
lhi s neans that hoth roots oI k arewave s that enter in the dow-
str ean side [ Z d) oIany sourc e (as is physicaIIy r easonahIe in
this cas e); consequentIy, the s oIutionwithk
i
0 Ior reaI c repre~
s ents an anpIiIying wave , In addition, Ior the sane r eason, there
i snopo s sihiIityoIanahsoIute instahiIity.
we note aI so, inpas s ing, that an e s s entiaI singuIarity oI F(c,z)
(Ior Z d) ari s es at c ~ +c
p
_, s ince c c_ as k lhis neans
that the asynptotic re sponse on the downstrean s ide oIa sour ce
can containundanpe dpIasna o s ciIIations at c
p
as weII as at the
driving Irequency oI the source in this zero-tenperaturenodeI ,
In nore conpIi cated cas e s, thi s technique oIanaIyzing the dis -
per sion equation at inIinite IrequencywiII oIten give sone inIorna-
tion even iIi t doe s not provide a conpIete answe r ,

stance , i I
thereare two s ets oIconpIex conugate root s oI k Ior soner eaI c
and it can hedeternined hy Ietting
i
~ that three enter Ior z 0 ,
say, and one enter s Ior z < 0 , i t nus t he true that at Ieastone othe
roots is anpIiIying Ior Z 0, even though it is not cIear whi ch one .
Further iIIustrations oI s one useIuI te chnique s Ior appIying the cri -
teria are giveni nSe ction ,7,
. o Di s cus sion
, o . J Group VeIocity oIFropagating wave s . lhe criterion onan-
pIiIying and evane s cent wave s Iixe s the s ens eoI causaIity' ' oI a wave
with a conpIexwave nunher k; that i s, it deternine s the dire ction
in whichthe signaI is transIerredwhen the wave is excited at sone
Iixedr eIerence pIane , Itthe criterion i s appIied to pure propagating
wave s, sone interes ting Iacts ahout the concept oIgroup veIo cityhe-
cone evident ,
For propagating wave s, k i s r eaI Ior reaI c. we add an inIinite s -
inaI negative inaginary part to the r eaI c, the rooto I the disper sion
equation nove s out into the conpIexk-pIane ina dire ction depending
onthe sign oI cJk, Itthe s ysten is stahIe, that i s, iIno conpIexc
with negative inaginaryparts Ior reaI k are ohtainedIron the disper -
sion equation, thenthi s root can never cro s s the r eaI -k axi s again as
the (negative) inaginarypart oI c i s increased. In this case, the
s ignoIcJk correctIy give s the dire ction oI propagation oI the wave,
as we shouId expect. lhi s statenent i s notnec es sariIy true iI the
systen supports unstahIe wave s, however, since the roots can then

the r eaI-kaxi s again Ior s one c with a Iinite negative inagi -

nary part ,
lherearenany exanpIe s oIunstahIe systens in which the sign oI
cJk doe s not give the correct directioni nwhi ch the signaI i s trans -
Ierredin a propagating wave . As one exanpIe, we again cons ider
the case oIIongitudinaI os ciIIations in a coIdhean-pIasna systen oI
inIinite extent, as de s crihedin Section l , 1. InFigure l , , we shaII
seethat there is a r egion wher e cJk < 0 Ior reaI c sIightIy Iarger
l4 AnpIiIying wavcs and AhsoIutc InstahiIity
thanc
p
, According to thcdis cus s ion inScction , 5, howcvcr ,
hoth roots oI k arcwavcs that cntcr in thc downstrcan si dc
whcn thc systcn i s cxcitcd hy a IocaIizcd s our cc, As a nattcr
oI intcrcst, thc Iocus oI thi s rootin thc k-pIanc as thcncgativc
inaginarypart oI is varicd i s pIottcd in Figurc ,1 Ior scv
-
craI vaIucs oI rcaI c, wc scc that thc propagating wavc with
cJk docs indccd novc into thcuppcr-haIIk-pIanc Ior snaII
ncgativc inaginarypartoI ; howcvcr , it cvcntuaIIy cro s scs thc
rcaI -kaxi s Ior suIIicicntIy Iargcncgativc inaginarypart oI U,
k _ v
0
0
g 0
3
Z
~ 3
Compl ex wave for
r ea l frequency

4
0.75 0. 95 | . 0| | . 05
| Z 3 4
W
0
O. l
w
0
4
0

Propagati ng wave
' wi th S O

-:
;
0
| Z
Figurc ,1 , Locus oI k Ior onc-dincns ionaI hcan-pIasna
systcn ( sccFigurc l , ) ,
lhis hrcakdow oI the conccpt oIgroup vcIocity in a systcn
that supports unstahIc wavcs is aI s o rcasonahIc Ironthcnorc
usuaI picturc oIthc propagation oIa puI sconthc s ys tcn, lhc
point i s that thc spatiaI Fouricr spcctrun oI thc puI sc, iI thc puI sc
i s Iinitc incxtcnt , cxtcnds ovcr aII rcaI wavcnunhcr s , s othat thc
doninant contrihution as t concs Iron rcgions whcrc conpIcx
c Ior rcaI k arc ohtaincd and notncccs sariIy Iron thc pcak in thc
quasi-nonochronati c spcctrun oI k at t ~ 0 . lhc IogicaI cxtcn-
s ion oIthcconccpt oIgroup vcIocity to systcns that supportun-
stahIcwavcs ( as rcgards thc propagation oIa spatiaI puI sc) was
givcn in Scction , 4,
. o , Conpari son with Frcvious work, lhc critcria dcrivcd
in thi s chaptcr diIIcr in onc way or anothcr Iron thc critcria that
havchccnprcviousIy puhIishcd ( scc RcIcrcnccs 45, 4o, 5 I - 5 l) ,
Di s cus s ion l 5
AII oI thes e works , incIuding the pre s ent IornuIation, have re-
Iied upon an investigation oI onIy the di spe r s ion equation to e s -
tahIishthe criteria on anpIiIying wave s and ahsoIute ins tahiIitie s.
For thi s reason, it i s oIinter est to conpare hrieIIy the s e cri -
teria with the pr es ent IornuIation.
InSturrock s pioneering work,

s
he r ecognizedthe Iactthat the
dispers ionequation shouId contain the nece s s aryinIornation, and
he es tahIishedthe nethod otIooking at puI s e s in space or tine
which was IoIIowed hy Iater author s . (AhrieIindication oIthis
generaI appr oach in the case oI distinguishinghetween ahsoIute
and convective instahiIitie s was givenhy!andauand !iIshitz .

s
)
Fven in the context oIhis IornuIation, however , Sturrock did not
careIuIIy consider the eIIects oIthe hranchpoints oIc(k) and k(c)
when deIorning contour s in the conpIex k and c pIane s , as was
pointed out in ReIer ences 5J and 5 , lhe s e s inguIaritie s are ot
inportanceinany di sper s ion equation which i s oIhigher order
than Iir s t i n c and k; Ior thi s r eason there i s IittIe corre spond-
ence oI Sturrock! s re suIt with the r esuIt s oI the pres ent IornuIa-
tion,
Fainherg, KuriIko, and Shapiro
s
,
consider the as yptoti c he-
havior ota di sturhance that i s initiaIIy in the IornoI a spatiaI
puI s e , in order to distinguishhetween ahsoIute and convective in-
stahiIities , lhe criteria they ohtain s tate that an ahsoIute ins ta-
hiIity re suIts whenever therei s a saddIe point oIc

(k) i nthe Iower -

haIIc-pIane and hetween the contour oI conpIexc

(k) Ior reaI k

and the reaI-caxis ( Figure , J9 ) , Here c

i s one oI the hranche s

( sheet s ) oI the Iunction c(k) , and it i s inportant in their criteria
S ad d le p oi nt
of W | k

W
f
C ontour of
complex =| k )
f or r eal k
Figur e . J9 , Criteria oI Fainher g , KuriIko, and Shapiro ,

i
that the saddI epointheing consideredIie s on the s ane sheet oI
c( k) as the contour , lhis criterion i s siniIar hut not identicaI
to the one derived in the pre s ent work; the requirenent that the
saddIe pointhe inside the contour oI conpIex c Ior r eaI k and
the r eaI -kaxi s , and on the s ane sheet, i s aInost the sane as
the requirenentthat one otthe roots oI A( c, k) ~ 0 in the k-pIane
cro s s the reaI -k axi s and nerge into a douhIe root oI k Ior sone
lo AnpIiIying wave s andAh soIute InstahiIity
c as we hring the Irequencyup Iron the LapIace contour , II the
root cro s s e s the r eaI-kaxis twice , however , there is a pos s ihiI~
ity that the two criteria are not in agreenent, (ActuaIIy, iI it
cro s s e s an

nunher oI tine s , the two criteria night di sagree, )

lhi s i s di s cus s edin nore detaiI in Appendix A, wherei t is shown
that the diIIerence in the two IornuIations ari se s he caus e the hranch
points oIc(k) were not careIuIIy consideredinReIerence 51, Inthis
appendix, a rather artiIiciaI nunericaI exanpIe i s di s cus s edto iI-
Iustrate the s e ideas . ( Note aI s othatthe prohIen oIdistinguishing
anpIiIying and evane s cent wave s is not consideredin ReIerence 51. )
FoIovin
s
has cons ideredthe que stion oIdi stingui shing anpIiIy-
ing and evane s cent wave s Iron a hasi c IornuIation whi ch i s very
siniIar to the one propos edhySturrock,

A perturhation is con~
sideredthat i s as sunedto he a puI s e in tine at sone Iixedpoint
in space , II thi s perturhation vanishe s Ior z o, then the wave
is deIinedas anpIiIying; otherwi s ethe wave is deIined as evanes~
cent , lher e suIting criterion state s that iIthere i s a saddIe point
oI k(c) ins ide oI the contour oI conpIex k Ior reaI c and the r eaI -k
axis , andon the sane sheet, the wave i s evane s cent; otherwi s e, it
i s ananpIiIying wave , lhis nathenaticaI criterion doe s nothear
any r e s enhIancetotheone derivedinthe pre s ent work, Itishe-
Iieved that the diIIer encehetween thes e two criteria ari s es Iron
th

diIIer ence inthehasic ph

si caI deIinition oIanpIiIying and

evane s centwave s , As a counterexanpIe to the FoIovin criterion,
consider the disper s ion equation derived Ior Iorward~wave inter-
actioni na weak-coupIing approxination ( see Section , 1 , Fqua-
tion , 44)
( , 41)
Iti s easiIy shown that aII s addIe point s oIk(c) in thi s case are on
the reaI -k axis , and thereIore FoIovin! s criterionwouId state that
hoth conpIex roots oI k Ior reaI c are anpIiIying wave s , lhi s i s
at variance with the weII-know r e suIt s oIhoth theoryand experi -
nents on traveIing-wave~tuhe anpIiIier s ,
It shouId aI soh e nentioned that Bunenan has deveIopeda crite -
rion on anpIiIying and evanes centwave s that invoIves deternining
the adnittance oIa prohe insertedinto the systen.
ss
In the anaIy-
si s , however , he consider s sinuItaneousIy an inIinite systen and
pureIy reaI Irequencie s , a procedure that is suhectto the criti-
ci sns given in Section , . He aI s o, cIearIy, doe s not cons ider the
prohIen oI dis tingui shing ahsoIute and conve ctive instahiIitie s ,

;os t o I FoIovin! s worki s concernedwith interpreting the two-

wave weak~coupIing diagrans Iike thos e di s cus s edin Section ,7,
OIyhis hasi c IornuIation oIthe prohIen is oIinteres t i nthis cri -
tique ,
Di s cus sion l7
. o . l 0seIuInes s oI Criteria. lhe criteria that we have de-
rivedon anpIiIication and instahiIity werehasedon a nodeI oI
aninIinite sys ten driven hya IocaIi zed sour ce , lhereasonIor
doing thi s was that we wi shedto ohtaininIornationahoutthe waves
on the uniIorn systen without reIerence to any particuIar set oI
houndary conditions in z , Having done this , however , it i s in-
portant to cIariIy exactIywhatinIornationhas heenohtainedhy
this procedure in regardto the hehavior oI systens oIIinite Iength.
In this re spect, it is perhaps worth whiIe Iir st to give s one warn-
ing s ahout things that our criteria do say ahoutsysten oI Iinite
Iength.
1. One shouId notheIedinto the incorrect concIusion that a
sys tenwhich supports an ahsoIute instahiIity i s aIwa

s unstahIe .
Such a systen usuaIIynus t he Ionger than sone criticaI Iength
heIore the systenhe cones unstahIe , as Ior exanpIe , in the case
oIthe hackward-wave o s ciIIator,

lhe statenent that a sys ten

whichsupports ah soIute instahiIitie s is usahIe onIy as an o s ciI -
Iator i s aI s onottrue , A weII-known counterexanple i s that oI
the hackward-wave anpIiIier , the absoIute ins tahiIity i s sup-
pressedi nthis casehynaking the tuhe shortenough, andyet a
net gain can he reaIizedhy operating cIo se to the os c iIIation con-
dition,
. I t i s aI s onot true that a systen oIIinite Iength whi ch sup-
ports onIy convective instahiIitie s ( anpIiIying wave s ) i s nece s -
sariIy stahIe , that i s , that perturhations cannot aI s o growin tine
at everypoint in space . AII thi s statenentreaIIysays is that an
anpIiIier canhecone an os ciIIator iItherei s a suIIicient reII ec-
tion oIananpIiIying wave , ari sing Ironterninations oIthe sys -
ten, as , Ior exanpIe , in the case oI nisnatche s at the output
and input oI a traveIing-wave -tuhe anpIiIier .
It is heIieved that thes e criteria provide very us eIuI inIorna-
tion, however , as Iong as one exercise s due cautionwhen appIy-
ing the r e suIts to physicaI situations . lo Ii sta Iew oI the po si -
tive statenents that can henade
1. lhe criteria onanpIiIying and evane s cent wave s teII one
iIit is ever pos sihIe to have exponentiaIspatiaI anpIiIication oI
a s ignaI , without considering a nunher oIhoundary-vaIue proh-
1ens in z , that i s , without consider\ng the coupIing oI the s ig-
naI ' in and out oIthe systen.
. IIthe uniIorn sys ten supports ahsoIute instahiIitie s , then
tenporaIIy growing o s ciIIations can oc cur without the neces sity
oI any r eIIe ctions Iron terninations or externaI Ieedhack. In
nany physicaI s ituations , it i s ohvious that no nechanisnIor such
reIIe ctions ( or revers epropagation) exists , in which case the
stahiIity oI the Iinite systen can he deterninedaInos t directIy
Iron the s e criteria ( except Ior the starting Iength que s tion aI -
ready di s cus s ed) .
l AnpIiIying wave s and Ah soIute InstahiIity
l , lhe propagation veIocity deIined in Section . 4is us eIuI
Ior e stinating whether a conve ctive ins tahiIitywouId growto Iarge
anpIitude heIore r eaching the ends oIthe sys ten. For nany e-
IoIding tines t ohave evoIved, the Iength oIthe s ysten shouIdhe
nuch Iarger than V_Ja_, where V_ and a_ aredeIined in Section .4.
It i s interes ting to note, in this regard, that the Iower hound that
was derived on the naxinun anpIiIication rate o ( InequaIity , lo)
shows that the ahove-nentioned condition require s aI s othat O 1,
lhi s i s another exanpIe oIhow the anaIysi s i nSection , 4aIIows
one to conne ctthe concepts oIa growing puI s e di sturhance with the
anpIiIicationin space oI a s inusoidaI signaI .
InhrieI, the criteria derivedhere suppIy additionaI inIornation
ahout potentiaIIyunstahIe systens heyond the s inpIe require -
nent that conpIexc with negative inaginarypart Ior reaI k he
ohtained Ironthe di sper sion equationo I the inIinite ( uniIorn) sys -
ten, h addition, this deveIopnent has cIearIy denonstratedthat
the prohIen oI distinguishing anpIiIying and evane s c ent wave s can
never he s eparatedIronthe question oI stahiIity. lhi s wouId aI s o
he true whenever systens oIIinite Iength are cons idered,
. o . 4 AnpIiIying wave s in the Fre s ence oI an AhsoIute InstahiI -

It i s oI interes t to reviewhrieIIy the exanpIe oI an ahsoIute

instahiIity pre s ented in Section , 4 in the Iight oI the previous dis -
cus sion on systens oI Iinite Iength, Inthe case iIIus tratedi nFig-
ure . 1o , as was nentionedheIor e, ther e i s an ahrupttransition
oIthe rootthathas conpIex k Ior reaI c IronanpIiIying to eva-
ne s cent Ior s one reaI c inthe vicinityoI (the r eaIpartoI) the
Irequency oI the ahsoIute instahiIity, SeveraI physicaI exanpIe s
exhihiting this hehavior wiIIhepr e s ented in Chapter s 4 and 5 . In
the context oIan inIinite (uniIorn) systen, oIcour s e, this i s oI
no signiIicancehecaus etherei s anahsoIute instahiIitypr es ent,
DiIIicuItie s in interpretation do arise, however, in regardto the
hehavior oI systens oI Iinite Iength. In a systenthat is too short
Ior the ahsoIute instahiIity to he excited, as, Ior exanpIe, a
hackward-wave anpIiIier, it i s neaningIuI to speak oI reaI Ire -
quencie s , Since the Irequencyat whichthi s transition occur s
i s not unique,

the criteria hasedon the inIinite systenare not

ahIe to give anydeIinitive inIornation concerning the neaning oI
thes e roots, anpIiIying or evanes c ent, inthe Iinite s ys ten
in thi s cas e , lhe onIy generaI concIusionpo s sihIe in the context
oI the pre s ent worki s that, to answer thi s que s tion, the systen
oIIinite Iength nus t he consider ed expIi citIy in such cas e s .

Note that the hranchIine o I F(c, z ) can he oriented at an arhi-

traryangIe inthec-pIane, andnot] us t at O to the reaI-c axis
as show in Figure ,JJ, It can he show that this wiII nake a
corre sponding aIteration in the r eaI Irequencyat whichthis trans i -
tionIron anpIiIication t o evane s cence oc cur s ,
FxanpIcs l9
,7 FxanpIcs
In this scction, sonc s inpIc cxanpIcs oI thc appIication oI thc
critcria arctrcatcd in ordcr to iIIustratc thc tcchniqucs invoIvcd,
Inthc Iir st partthc quadratic cquations ohtaincd Iron a coupIcd-
nodc dcs criptionoIwcakIy coupIcd systcns arc anaIyzcdanddis -
cus scd, whiIc thc sccond sct oIcxanpIcs i s draw Ironthc IicId
oI pIasnaphysic s ,
, 7 ,1 wcak-CoupIing Di spcr sion Fquations , lhc opcration oI
no sthcan-typcnicrowavc tuhcs can hcundcr stoodhy a wcak-
coupIing IornaIi sn,

,
-
, --
Inthi s scction wc arrIv thc critcria
on anpIiIying wavcs and ahsoIutc instahiIitics to thc di spcr s ion
cquationsthat rcsuIt Iron such a wcak- coupIing IornuIation, wc
shaII cons idcr onIythc coupIing oItwo propagating wavcs in Ios s -
Ics s systcns; thc Iour pos sihIc typcs o I dispcr s ion diagrans that
can rcsuIt arc shown in Figurc , 0 , ( lriviaI variations in thcsc
k
|Al

| C

l
_
Z
.
r
V
|
>
0
0

| B
|
V
|
0
|
~
V
2
k
| |
V
|
0
|

V
2
Figurc , 0 , wcak- coupIing di spcr s ion diagrans ,
diagrans arcnot consi dcrcd as diIIcrcnt typcs .) lhccquations
dcs crihing thcscdiagrans in thc vicinity oI thc intcr scction oIthc
two uncoupIcd wavcs arcthc IoIIowing :
(A)
( B)
, ,,,
k
-,

,
k -
,
k

,
,
~

( , 4)
( , 4l)
40
( C)
( D)
AnpIiIying wave s and AhsoIute InstahiIity
k - k

~ -k

k - ;

+ ,
,
~ k
( . 44)
( . 45)
In the s e equations , Ior aIgehraic s inpIicity, the point oI inter -
s ectiono I the two uncoupIedwave s has heen shiItedto the origin
oI the (o - k) -pIane , we cons ider each oI the s e cas e s s eparateIy
(A) , In this case k is reaI Ior aII reaI Ug and convers eIy o i s
r eaI Ior aII r eaI k. lhereIor e , there ar e no instahiIitie s , and
the r e suIting coupIedwave s are ordinary propagating wave s ,
( B) , Nowthere are conpIex roots oI k Ior reaI o , hut o i s r eaI
Ior aII reaI k, lhere are no unstahIe wave s, andhence we can
innediateIy concIude that the conpIex wave s Ior r eaI o arehoth
evane s cent wave s ,
( C) . In this case there are conpIex roots Ior k Ior reaI o and
conpIex roots oI o Ior reaI k. As o ~ Og the two roots he-
cone
( . 4o)
and
( . 47)
andther eIorehoth roots are intheIower-haIIk-pIane Ior o
i
^O
ItIoIIows that the root with k
i
0 Ior r eaI o is ananpIiIyingwave
in the +z direction and the root with k
i
< 0 i s an evane s centwave ,
lherei s aI s ono po s sihiIity oI an ahsoIute instahiIityhecaus ehoth
wave s cone Iron the Iower -haIIk-pIane and thereIore they cannot
nerge throughthe contour C ( the deIorned Fourier contour) , ;ore -
over , it i s easiIy shown that aII douhIe roots o I k oc cur Ior reaI o,
As a nattero I interes t, the reader can check Ior hins eIIthat
the Iower and upperhounds onthe naxinun anpIiIicationrate oI
a convective instahiIity derived inSe ction . 4 are s ati sIiedIor thi s
s inpIe exanpIe.
( D) , Now k i s reaI Ior aIIreaI u, however , there are conpIex
roots oI o Ior reaI k, By soIving the quadrati c Ior k, we Iind
that a douhIe rootoI k occur s when

U

*
V
( . 4)
FxanpIe s
4I
As U Og the roots hecone
( , 49)
and
( , 50)
andthereIore Ior U
i
~
^Og one root is inthe upper -haIIk-pIane
and one rootis in the Iowe r-haIIk-pIane . we nowhave an ah-
soIute instahiIity at the Irequency givenhy Fquation , 4 , and at
the wave nunher
( , 5 I )
It i s inter e sting t o note aI s othat the spatiaI patter o I the as -
ynptotic re sponse in this case (whi ch is given hy e
-
!
k
s
z
with k
s
given hy Fquation , 5 I ) i s exponentiaIIy increasing in the direc -
tionoI the wave ( s ee Fquation , ), lhat i s , when
V > Vg thi s spatiaI patternhas an exponentiaI enveIope increas-
ing i nthe dir ectiontakenhythe group veIocity oI wave | when the
waves are uncoupIed,
As a natter oIintere st, the Io ci oIthe rootsi nthe k-pIane Ior
the s e Iour cas es are sketched in Figure , 1 Ior conpIex c with
c
r
= 0, Note , however , that it was not nec es saryinthe s e s inpIe
cas es to perIorna detaiIed napping oIc(k) in the conpIexk-pIane ,
as wouIdhe the case in nore conpIicated s ituations .
AII oIthe s er e suIt s are in agreenent with the predictions hased
on the concepts oIsnaII- signaI energyand power .49
,
5 Diagrans A
and B are oI the type that r e suIt Iron a weak coupIing oI two pas -
sive waveso r Iron a coupIing o I two active wave s . By pas s ive
wave , we nean a wavethathas positive snaII - s ignaI energy, and
the tern active wave neans that the wave carrie s negative
snaII- signaI energy. Diagrans C and D ar e the type that re-
suIt Iron a couIin oI an active wave with a pas sive wave .
7hen the group veIo citie s oI the uncoupIed wave s are in the
sane direction, as in C , we have anpIiIication as , Ior in-
stance , in a traveIing-wave anpIiIier.47 when the group veI oc-
iti es oI the uncoupIed wave s are i n oppo site dire ctions , as in
D, an ahsoIute instahiIityr e suIt s , as , Ior exanpIe , in a hackward-
wave os ciIIator,
4 AnpIiIying wave s and AhsoIute InstahiIity
k k
| A I | Bl

k
o
k
r
Freq uency v a r i a t ion :
k
|C ! | 0!

+ [
k

"
_
[
k

k
k
t
k
r

k

k

Figure , 1, Loci oIroots in k-pIane Ior weak- coupIing ex-

anpIe s c
r
~ 0 andV > V

) ,
,7, DouhIe -Strean Interactions , we now cons ider a disper -
sion equationthat de s crihe s one tye oI the weII -know eIe ctro-
static ( streaning) instahiIitie s i na pIasna, lhis exanpIe i s I es s
triviaI than the previous one s , and iIIustrate s sone additionaI
techniques Ior appIying the criteria without res orting to detaiIed
nunericaI caIcuIation.
lhe disper s ion equationweconsider i s
~ ( , 5)
lhi s equation de s crihes the IongitudinaI wave s in a systenoI
chargedparticIe s with two equaI - density ( coId) streans , each
with pIasnaIrequency
ps
.
which IIow against eachother with
equaI and oppo s ite veIocitie s and ar e inner s edin a hackground
oI stationary coId particIe s with the pIasna Irequency
p
( s eeAp-
pendix C). lhis i s a generaIization oI the dispers ion equation( , l9)
which de s criheda s ingIe strean IIowing througha pIasna.
IIwe deIine
K ~ ( . 5 l)
then Fquation , 5 can he soIved Ior k

as
FxanpIe s 4 l
( . 54)
we consider Iir st the spe ciaI case oIa douhIe -strean inter -
action in the ahsence oIthe hackground pIasna (c
pp
- 0 or K = I ) ,
In thi s cas e , a douhIe rooto I k , saddIe point oIck) , doe s oc cur
in the Iower-haIIc-pIane or
= c
s
=
.
c
ps
, _

( . 5 5)
lo show that this saddIe point corre sponds to an ahsoIute in-
s tahiIity, we sketch in Figure . the rootIoci in the k-pIane Ior
pure inaginary c, As shown in the Iigure , it is convenient in this
exanpIe to sketchthe Iociin the k
:
-pIane Iir stand then to derive
the k-pIane Ioci Iron the k
-
Ioci, As i s evident Ironthe Iigure ,
we have an ahsoIute ins tahiIity in thi s casea t the pure inaginary
Irequencyc
s
,
Fre quency va ri ot i on :

=
w
t
S a d d l e poi nt
of w | K 1
.
=
; s
-

k
Figure . . DouhIe - str ean instahiIitywithout a stationary
pIasna (c
pp
= 0 ) ,
In the cas e that incIude s a stationarypIasna, we Iind Iron
Fquation . 54 that a douhIe rootoI k Ior an U intheIower -haII
pIane oc cur s onIy when
( . 5o)
44 AnpIiIying wave s andAhsoIute InstahiIity
when InequaIity , 5 o is sati sIied, the saddIe point oc curs at the
Irequency
( . 57)
It can he shown, in a siniIar nanner as Ior the speciaI cas e
c
(
p
= 0 , that when InequaIity . 5o i s sati sIi edthe saddIe point
givenhy Fquation , 57 doe s corre spondto an ahsoIute instahiIity
atc
s
, On the other hand, when InequaIity . 5o is r ever s ed, we
know that ther e cannothe an ahsoIute instahiIity hecause ther e i s
no saddIe point in the Iower c-pIane , It i s readiIy show Iron
Fquation , 54 that there are aIways conpIex roots oI c Ior r eaI k,
a re suIt indicating the pres ence oIconve ctive instahiIity,
lo deternine the po s sihIe anpIiIication rate s in the case
pp
>
c
ps
J , the conpIex k vaIue s Ior reaI c are sketched in Figure
. l , In order to identiIy which conpIex roots corre spond to an-

\
\
\
\
I

.--
7
- reo l k
^ ^* ^ ^ 1 m k

k
compl ex k
* Re
wgg o`
w
X
og
^=.
|
|
l
I
I
'
Figure , l . ConpIex k Ior reaI c (c
pp
c
ps
J) ,
pIiIying wave s and whichone s corre spond to evane s cent waves( re -
aIizing that the anaIys i s in Section , 4has proved that anpIiIying
wave s nust exi st in thi s cas e) , we night perIornnuneri caI con-
putations ona particuIar cas e . It i s perhaps nore instructive ,
however , to us ethe s onewhat intricate hut nore generaIIyus e -
IuI argunentnowto he outIined.
FxanpIe s 45
we shaII show that the two roots oI k that have k
i
~ as
c c
pp
areanpIiIying wave s , that i s, there i s an inIinite anpIi-
Iication rate predictedhythis nodeIinhoth the +z and -z direc-
tions when c
pp
> c
ps
, . lo denonstras , i t i s convenient
to trace the k-pIane IociIor a rather devious route Ior c ( Route a
in Figure . 4h) rather than the nore standard route ohtainedhy

-l
D
[a) Loci oI two oI the roots oI k, (h) Frequencyvariations .
Figure , 4, Loci o I k r oots (
p
>
s
, ) . lhe roots oI k
IoIIow the tra] ectorie s indicated in ( a) as the Irequencyvar -
ie s aIong Route a i n(h) ,
hoIding the reaI parto I c Iixedonthe de siredreaI Irequencyand
hringing c
i
Iron ~ to zero ( Route h) . lhe vaIidity oI thi s approach
i s dis cus s edin the IoIIowing paragraph. lhe advantageoItraveIing
aIong Route a is thatwe canhring c up to a point] ustheIow the reaI
axi s c = c
r
- ] v) , and at the s ane tine keep c veryIarge in the
proce s s , s othat we knowwhichrootoIthe Iourth-order equation
( . 54) we are deaIing with ( Fath a
,
) in Figure . 4a. In the Iigure ,
the two roots indicatedin the k-pIane are tho se that hecone
( . 5 )
k
:
v_
"
c + c
ps
( . 5 9 )
as c ~ , we then hring c
r
down Iron Iargepos itive vaIues to
the de siredr eaI Irequency ( sIightIyheIowc
pp
in the pre s ent cas e ) ,
using the reaI c diagran t oIoIIowthe root oI interes t ( Figure . l) .
In this proce s s , we r etain the inIinite s inaI negative inaginarypart
oI c inorder to avoid going directIy through any indeterninate
point s Iike c
pp
, For the reasons dis cus sed in the IoIIowing para-
graph, the use oIthi s snaII inaginarypart oI c teIIs us how to
] oin corre ctIythe k roots on the opposite side s oI such singuIar
point s . when this proce s s is carri edout , we Iindthatthe two roots
4o AnpIiIying wave s and AhsoIute Ins tahiIity
oIinterest have perIorned the tra] e ctorie s show in Figure , 4,
and this veriIie s the res uIt stated earIie r ,
It stiII r enains t odeternine the conditions Ior whichthi s de-
vice works , naneIy, under what conditions is it true that the
s ane answer i s ohtainedhy going aIong Fath a as wouIdheoh-
tainedhygoing aIong Fath h A IittIe thought wiII convince us
that the onIy way we couId reach ata diIIerent point inthe k-pIane
Ior the sane reaI vaIue oI c when traveIing diIterent paths (which
hoth startwiththe sane root oI k and at the sane point , naneIy,
c
i
~ O) i s iIa hranch point oIkc) i s encIo sedwithin the s e two
paths in the c-pIane , II we do not encIose such a hranch point ,
then when we start on a particuIar sheet oI k(c) particuIar root
oI k) , we shaII he on the sane sheetwhen we arrive at the end
point, even iI diIIer ent paths are chos en, AII thi s reaIIy says i s
that i Iweweret ogo througha point that i s a douhIe root oI k
- a hranch point oI k c) -we wouId Io se track oI which root
we are IoIIowing, II there are no suchdouh!e roots oI k in the
Iower -haIIc-pIane , as i s the case her e , then the procedure i s
vaIid, lherear e hranchpoints oIk c) onthe reaI -c axis i nthi s
exanpIe , howr , such as c
pp
, and this i s the reason Ior re-
taining a snaII negative inaginary part oI c when traveIing aIong
Fath a, we enphasize again that this trick i s useIuI in s orting
out whi chwave s are anpIiIying onIywhen it is known that no douhIe
roots oI k oc cur in the Iower -haIIc-pIane ,
lhe physicaI re suIts we have ohtained ar e interes ting and worth
a hrieIdi s cus s ion, we showed inSection , 5 that a s ingIe str ean
in a pIasna re suIts in an inIinite anpIiIication rate in the direc-
tion oIthe strean andnoahsoIute instahiIity, lwo coIIiding strean
,
in the ahsence oI a pIasna, on the other hand, wer e shown in this
section to r e suIt in an ahsoIute instahiIity, whi chi s quite r eason-
ahIephysicaIIy since the s ystenhas huiIt-in Ieedhack, when
two strean,
coIIide in the pres ence oIa pIasna, however , the he-
havior ohtained depends onthe reIative dens ity oIthe str ean
,
to
the pIasna ( InequaIity , 5o ) , For a suIIicientIy tenuous pIasna,
the ahsoIute ins tahiIityhetween the str ean
,
i s ohtained, whereas
a denser pIasna r e suIt s i ninIinite anpIiIication in hoth strean
dir ections and no ahsoIute instahiIity,