Abstract

The dispersion law for plasma oscillations in a two-dimensional electron gas in the hydrodynamic approximation interpolates between Ω ∝ √q and Ω ∝ q dependences as the wave vector q increases. As a result, downstream of a charged impurity in the presence of a uniform supersonic electric current flow, a wake pattern of induced charge density and potential is formed whose geometry is controlled by the Mach number M. For 1 < M2, the wake consists of transverse wave fronts confined within a sector, whose angle is given by the classic Mach condition. An additional wake of a larger angle resembling the Kelvin ship wake, and consisting of both transverse and diverging wave fronts, is found outside the Mach sector for M > 2. These wakes also trail an external charge, traveling supersonically, a fixed distance away from the electron gas.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-31-2018

Notes/Citation Information

Published in Physical Review Letters, v. 120, issue 22, 226801, p. 1-5.

© 2018 American Physical Society

The copyright holder has granted permission for posting the article here.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.226801

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