Nonlinear theory of the gyro-TWT: Comparison of analytical method and numerical code data for the NRL gyro-TWT

Operation of gyro-traveling-wave tubes (gyro-TWTs) in large-signal regimes is typically studied by the use of either semianalytical methods or various numerical codes. However, no comparative analysis of both approaches was done before. In this paper, we compare the results of numerical and semi-analytical studies of the large-signal operation of a gyro-TWT designed at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC. These results agree very well when the beam-wave interaction in the uniform part of the interaction region is considered. The inclusion of nonuniform input and output sections into the analysis may cause a noticeable difference between them. Possible reasons for this inconsistency are discussed.