Plasma oscillation

Plasma oscillations, also known as Langmuir waves (after <a href="/facts/Irving_Langmuir/mPt8xwUp">Irving Langmuir</a>), are rapid oscillations of the <a href="/facts/Electron_density/L5yDsk6j">electron density</a> in conducting media such as <a href="/facts/Plasma_(physics)/1d3btMVU">plasmas</a> or <a href="/facts/Metal/pqQVs8QU">metals</a> in the <a href="/facts/Ultraviolet/kncBUqn5">ultraviolet</a> region. The oscillations can be described as an instability in the <a href="/facts/Drude_model/PqTIqN2f">dielectric function of a free electron gas</a>. The frequency depends only weakly on the wavelength of the oscillation. The <a href="/facts/Quasiparticle/Bpx2MNpb">quasiparticle</a> resulting from the <a href="/facts/Quantization_(physics)/fvs2Jwpn">quantization</a> of these oscillations is the <a href="/facts/Plasmon/kuCMxx5f">plasmon</a>.
Langmuir waves were discovered by American <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicists</a> <a href="/facts/Irving_Langmuir/mPt8xwUp">Irving Langmuir</a> and <a href="/facts/Lewi_Tonks/WhS0hvd9">Lewi Tonks</a> in the 1920s. They are parallel in form to <a href="/facts/Jeans_instability/VBmcPj7Y">Jeans instability</a> waves, which are caused by gravitational instabilities in a static medium.

Plasma oscillation open-in-new

Plasma oscillation