Ph.D., University of Rochester, 1987.
Particle beams containing very large numbers of particles display complex collective dynamics.
The beam interacts with itself or other beams through electromagnetic wake fields, through a charged background of electrons or ions, or through collisions with an opposing beam. This collective interaction may produce damping, instabilities, or rather complicated changes in the equilibrium phase space distribution of the beam particles. We are able to observe these effects in CESR, and we make extensive use of computer simulations to gain an understanding of the underlying physics.