Fundamental Processes in Plasmas. Final report
This research focuses on fundamental processes in plasmas, and emphasizes problems for which precise experimental tests of theory can be obtained. Experiments are performed on non-neutral plasmas, utilizing three electron traps and one ion trap with a broad range of operating regimes and diagnostics. Theory is focused on fundamental plasma and fluid processes underlying collisional transport and fluid turbulence, using both analytic techniques and medium-scale numerical simulations. The simplicity of these systems allows a depth of understanding and a precision of comparison between theory and experiment which is rarely possible for neutral plasmas in complex geometry. The recent work has focused on three areas in basic plasma physics. First, experiments and theory have probed fundamental characteristics of plasma waves: from the low-amplitude thermal regime, to inviscid damping and fluid echoes, to cold fluid waves in cryogenic ion plasmas. Second, the wide-ranging effects of dissipative separatrices have been studied experimentally and theoretically, finding novel wave damping and coupling effects and important plasma transport effects. Finally, correlated systems have been investigated experimentally and theoretically: UCSD experients have now measured the Salpeter correlation enhancement, and theory work has characterized the 'guiding center atoms of antihydrogen created at CERN.
- Research Organization:
- Regents of the University of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE SC Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (SC-24)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI02-04ER54805
- OSTI ID:
- 1073771
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-04ER54805; TRN: US1400047
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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