Plural interactions of space charge wave harmonics during the development of two-stream instability

We construct a cubically nonlinear theory of plural interactions between harmonics of the growing space charge wave (SCW) during the development of the two-stream instability. It is shown that the SCW with a wide frequency spectrum is formed when the frequency of the first SCW harmonic is much lower than the critical frequency of the two-stream instability. Such SCW has part of the spectrum in which higher harmonics have higher amplitudes. We analyze the dynamics of the plural harmonic interactions of the growing SCW and define the saturation harmonic levels. We find the mechanisms of forming the multiharmonic SCW for the waves with frequencies lower than the critical frequency and for the waves with frequencies that exceed the critical frequency. (paper)