Observation of clumps in simulation plasma

Phase space density granulations (or ''clumps'') have been observed in a one-dimensional computer simulation plasma. Fluctuations were initially distributed over a wide range of velocities in a Maxwellian plasma. Clumps were observed at the thermal velocity 150 plasma periods later, long after the fluctuations should have decayed down to the thermal equilibrium level according to conventional theory. Within the accuracy of the simulation, the phase space density correlation function obtained from the simulation agrees well with the theoretical expression for clumps.