Fluid echoes in a pure electron plasma.

Experimental observations of diocotron wave echoes on a magnetized electron column are reported, representing Kelvin wave echoes on a rotating near-ideal fluid. The echoes occur by reversal of an inviscid wave damping process, and the phase-space mixing and unmixing are directly imaged. The basic echo characteristics agree with a simple nonlinear ballistic theory. At late times, the echo is degraded, and the maximal observed echo times agree with a theory of electron-electron collisions acting on separately evolving velocity classes.