Comparison of the analytical and simulation results of the equilibrium beam profile.

The evolution of high current electron beams in dense plasmas has been investigated by using two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations with immobile ions. It is shown that electron beams are split into many filaments at the beginning due to the Weibel instability, and then different filamentation beams attract each other and coalesce. The profile of the filaments can be described by formulas. Hammer et al. [Phys. Fluids 13, 1831 (1970)] developed a self-consistent relativistic electron beam model that allows the propagation of relativistic electron fluxes in excess of the Alfvén-Lawson critical-current limit for a fully neutralized beam. The equilibrium solution has been observed in the simulation results, but the electron distribution function assumed by Hammer et al. is different from the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]