CONTROLLING CHAOS IN THE PIERCE DIODE

The chaotic state of the classical Pierce diode is studied using a par ticle-in-cell computer simulation. The dynamics of the chaotic state i s analyzed by estimating ergodic measures of the reconstructed attract or that refine and extend previously reported results [Matsumoto et al ., Phys. Plasmas 3 (1996) 177]. The chaos control algorithm suggested by Ott, Grebogi, and Yorke is systematically applied to stabilize peri odic orbits up to periodicity four. This demonstrates successful chaos control in a plasma, i.e., a many particle system with long range col lective Coulomb interaction. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.