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2026-10-04 APS journals (journals.aps.org, link.aps.org), via Chrome

Searched by DOI found through Crossref and Bing. Full texts are paywalled; abstracts and metadata were read.

  1. Tonks and Langmuir, "Note on 'Oscillations in Ionized Gases'", Phys. Rev. 33, 990, 1 June 1929. DOI 10.1103/PhysRev.33.990 [web] https://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.33.990 No abstract shown; paywalled; "Citing Articles (20)". The authors' own follow-up note on the project document, published four months later. It may be the erratum or addendum for the misprints the deep read found (exp(r/lambda_D) sign; 2(2 pi)^(1/2) lambda_D), or it may add new results. Content unknown. Bears on claims 1-3 (the theory) and possibly claims 4-5.

  2. Merrill, H. J. and Webb, H. W., "Electron Scattering and Plasma Oscillations", Phys. Rev. 55, 1191, 15 June 1939. DOI 10.1103/PhysRev.55.1191 [web] https://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.55.1191 The abstract was read in full. Main points: - Mercury arc tube with a movable probe; low vapour pressures and arc currents. - Probe characteristics show "ultimate electrons" with a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution at about 30,000 K, plus a superposed stream of fast electrons from the cathode. - Fast electrons were scattered in "well-defined, approximately plane regions only a few tenths of a millimeter wide". - The oscillations were detected with a crystal detector in the probe circuit and a Lecher-wire system (the same detection method as Tonks and Langmuir). - Besides "turbulent" disturbances with no measurable frequency, narrow regions showed "stable periodic oscillations of considerable magnitude". These regions coincided with the scattering regions (with a small shift toward the anode). - Quote: "The observed frequencies agreed well with the formula derived by Tonks and Langmuir." - "The results are interpreted as showing that scattering is due to plasma oscillations which receive their energy from the fast electrons." - "Citing Articles (108)". Bears directly on claim 5 (the oscillations as the cause of the scattering anomaly) and claim 1 (the frequency formula): an independent group (Webb's laboratory; affiliation not shown on the page; [memory, medium] Columbia University) reports support ten years later. Claim 4 (the "noise" with no sharp resonance) is echoed by the "turbulent" disturbances.

  3. Baalrud, S. D., Callen, J. D. and Hegna, C. C., "Instability-Enhanced Collisional Effects and Langmuir's Paradox", Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 245005, 19 June 2009. DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.245005 [web] https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.245005 The abstract says the anomalously fast equilibration of the electron distribution to a Maxwellian in low-temperature, low-pressure gas discharges ("Langmuir's paradox") "may be explained by electron scattering via an instability-enhanced collective response" from "convective ion-acoustic instabilities near the discharge boundaries". The full text was read from an open copy (see 2026-10-04-umich-plasmatheory.md). 38 citing articles.