Effect of velocity diffusion on the propagation of nonlinear plasma waves

The propagation of plasma waves in unmagnetized plasmas has been the subject of several numerical and analytical studies since long time and surely represents a problem of crucial importance in plasma physics. In this paper we focus on the production of nonlinear plasma waves as the result of the so-called nonlinear Landau damping phenomenon in a realistic situation, where particle velocity diffusion is taken into account. The nonlinear Landau damping phenomenon of plasma waves has been recently analyzed in laboratory experiments with pure electron plasmas; we numerically reproduce this real experimental situation by means of collisional particle in cell (PIC) simulations that allow us to answer important questions: when and how do collisions affect the launching of nonlinear plasma waves