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Research Highlight Archive
Generation of polarized shear Alfvén waves by a rotating magnetic field source
A. Gigliotti, W. Gekelman, P. Pribyl, S. Vincena, A. Karavaev, X. Shao, A. Surjalal Sharma, and D. Papadopoulos
Experiments are performed in the Large Plasma Device at the University of California, Los Angeles to study the propagation of field-aligned, polarized kinetic shear Alfvén waves radiated from a rotating magnetic field source created via a novel phased orthogonal loop antenna. Evidence of electron heating and ionization is observed during the pulse.
Transverse oscillations in a single-layer dusty plasma under microgravity
Bin Liu, J. Goree, V. E. Fortov, A. M. Lipaev, V. I. Molotkov, O. F. Petrov, G. E. Morfill, H. M. Thomas, H. Rothermel, and A. V. Ivlev
A single-layer suspension of microparticles was formed in a plasma under microgravity conditions. This single layer is confined at a void boundary by a balance of ion drag and electric forces, where the ion flow velocity is much slower than in the sheath of laboratory plasmas.
Reconnection in semicollisional, low-β plasmas
S. Schmidt, S. Günter, and K. Lackner
Reconnection of semicollisional, low-β plasmas is studied numerically for two model problems using a two-field description of the plasma including electron pressure effects (and hence kinetic Alfvén-wave dynamics).
Phenomena associated with complex (dusty) plasmas in the ionosphere during high-speed meteor showers
S. I. Kopnin, S. I. Popel, and M. Y. Yu
Formation of dusty plasmas in the Earth's ionosphere at 80–120 km altitudes during high-speed meteor showers and its detectable manifestations are discussed. Emphasis is given to ground-based observations such as detection of low-frequency (<50 Hz) ionospheric radio noise, ground-based observations of infrasonic waves, and amplification of the intensity of green radiation at 557.7 nm from a layer at the 110–120 km altitude in the lower ionosphere.
Structures generated in a temperature filament due to drift-wave convection
M. Shi, D. C. Pace, G. J. Morales, J. E. Maggs, and T. A. Carter
A simplified numerical study is made of the structures that are formed in a magnetized temperature filament due to oscillatory convection from large amplitude drift waves. This study is motivated by a recent experiment [D. C. Pace, M. Shi, J. E. Maggs et al., Phys. Plasmas 15, 122304 (2008)] in which Lorentzian-shaped temporal pulses are observed.
Observation of ion cyclotron range of frequencies mode conversion plasma flow drive on Alcator C-Mod
Y. Lin, J. E. Rice, S. J. Wukitch, M. J. Greenwald, A. E. Hubbard, A. Ince-Cushman, L. Lin, E. S. Marmar, M. Porkolab, M. L. Reinke, N. Tsujii, J. C. Wright, and Alcator C-Mod Team
ICRF MC driven toroidal and poloidal flows have been observed in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. The toroidal rotation appears in the inner plasma first and is largely independent of the antenna toroidal phase. The E×B shear generated by the rf driven flow may be marginally sufficient for confinement enhancement on Alcator C-Mod.
