Collisionless coupling of a high- β expansion to an ambient, magnetized plasma. II. Experimental fields and measured momentum coupling
The momentum coupled to a magnetized, ambient argon plasma from a high-β, laser-produced carbon plasma is researched in a collisionless, weakly coupled limit. The total electric field was measured by separately examining the induced component associated with the rapidly changing magnetic field of the high-β (kinetic β~106), expanding plasma and the electrostatic component due to polarization of the expansion. Their temporal and spatial structures are discussed and their effect on the ambient argon plasma (thermal β~10–2) is confirmed with a laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic, which directly probed the argon ion velocity distribution function. For the given experimental conditions, the electrostatic field is shown to dominate the interaction between the high-β expansion and the ambient plasma. Particularly, the expanding plasma couples energy and momentum into the ambient plasma by pulling ions inward against the flow direction.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0001605
- OSTI ID:
- 1540204
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1432908
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 4; ISSN 1070-664X
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Collisionless coupling of a high- β expansion to an ambient, magnetized plasma. I. Rayleigh model and scaling
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journal | April 2018 |
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