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Scattering singularities of a resonant cavity containing plasma

C. Bouyssou*, R. Pascaud, C. Cailhol, and V. Mazières

O. Pascal, T. Callegari, and J. Sokoloff

T. Delage

  • *Contact author: Celia.BOUYSSOU@isae-supaero.fr
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APS Open Sci. 1, 000132 – Published 11 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5d6b-yljs

Abstract

The influence of plasma on the evolution of scattering singularities in microwave cavities remains largely unexplored, despite its importance for controlling reflectionless plasma excitation. In this work, we investigate the evolution of scattering singularities in a plasma-loaded microwave cavity. To analyze this complex interaction, a numerical model describing an experimental cavity containing a plasma tube is developed. This model enables the tracking of singularity evolution across various plasma configurations and explains the underlying physical mechanisms. Our results demonstrate that significant changes in the imaginary frequency of these singularities occur under two specific conditions: high collision frequency associated with optimal electron densities or high electron densities associated with optimal collision frequency. Furthermore, in the collisionless regime, we show that the variation of the real frequency increases due to the excitation of a transverse plasmonic resonance inside the plasma tube.

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  57. It is also worth emphasizing that this collisionless case is the only configuration for which the pole and zero do not exhibit a similar trajectory in the complex plane. As can be inferred from Eqs. (3) and (4), this behavior originates from a modification of the external decay rate. This underscores the significant role of the plasmonic resonance, which induces a reorganization of the field distribution within the cavity. A detailed analysis of this effect will be the subject of future work.

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APS Open Sci. 1, 000132– Published 11 September, 2026
Vol. 1
  • Received 11 May 2026
  • Accepted 19 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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