Landau damping is a phenomenon in plasma physics where the oscillations of plasma waves can decrease in amplitude over time due to the interaction of particles with those waves. This occurs when a distribution of particles moves in such a way that it effectively 'damps' the wave energy, leading to energy transfer from the wave to the particles. It plays a crucial role in understanding kinetic effects in plasmas, the growth of parametric instabilities, and various atomic processes occurring within plasma environments.
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