Ion acoustic turbulence in a large-volume plasma

Journal Article · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978 · Phys. Fluids; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.862340· OSTI ID:7080673

Kawai, Y; Hollenstein, C; Guyot, M

Ion acoustic turbulence excited by the current-driven ion acoustic instability in a large-volume plasma is studied experimentally. As the electron drift velocity increases, the fluctuation level of the waves increases and at the same time the peak of the turbulence spectrum shifts to a lower frequency. The resulting power spectrum agrees with that predicted by Horton. The effective collision frequency ..nu.. of the plasma is measured as a function of the electron drift velocity v/sub d/ in the presence of the ion acoustic turbulence. For an electron drift velocity below 0.05 v/sub e/ the effective collision frequency ..nu../..omega../sub p/e varies such that v/sub d//v/sub e/ remains approximately constant and for the drift velocity above 0.09 v/sub e/ the effective collision frequency is observed to be proportional to v/sub d//v/sub e/. It is found that these results can be explained by using the theoretical model of Horton, in which the induced ion-wave scattering dominates the turbulence spectrum and the turbulent collision frequency limits the spectrum at small klambda/sub D/.

• Research Organization: Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, CH-1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
• OSTI ID: 7080673
• Journal Information: Phys. Fluids; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Fluids; (United States) Vol. 21:6; ISSN PFLDA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700107 -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Instabilities
700108* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Wave Phenomena
COLLISIONAL PLASMA
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
FLUCTUATIONS
INSTABILITY
ION ACOUSTIC WAVES
ION WAVE INSTABILITY
ION WAVES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLASMA
PLASMA DRIFT
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES
PLASMA WAVES
POWER
TURBULENCE
VARIATIONS