Alfvén wave collisions, the fundamental building block of plasma turbulence. III. Theory for experimental design
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia 31698 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547 (United States)
Turbulence in space and astrophysical plasmas is governed by the nonlinear interactions between counterpropagating Alfvén waves. Here, we present the theoretical considerations behind the design of the first laboratory measurement of an Alfvén wave collision, the fundamental interaction underlying Alfvénic turbulence. By interacting a relatively large-amplitude, low-frequency Alfvén wave with a counterpropagating, smaller-amplitude, higher-frequency Alfvén wave, the experiment accomplishes the secular nonlinear transfer of energy to a propagating daughter Alfvén wave. The predicted properties of the nonlinearly generated daughter Alfvén wave are outlined, providing a suite of tests that can be used to confirm the successful measurement of the nonlinear interaction between counterpropagating Alfvén waves in the laboratory.
- OSTI ID:
- 22227941
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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