Measurement of Landau damping and the evolution to a BGK equilibrium.

Linear Landau damping and nonlinear wave-particle trapping oscillations are observed with standing plasma waves in a trapped pure electron plasma. For low wave amplitudes, the measured linear damping rate agrees quantitatively with linear Landau damping theory. At larger amplitudes, the wave initially damps at the Landau rate, then regrows and oscillates, approaching a steady state, as predicted by O'Neil in 1965 [Phys. Fluids 8, 2255 (1965)]]. This BGK equilibrium is observed to decay slowly due to external dissipation.