Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm53a1365v&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM53A-1365
Physics
Plasma Physics
[2471] Ionosphere / Plasma Waves And Instabilities, [2736] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, [7509] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Corona, [7831] Space Plasma Physics / Laboratory Studies And Experimental Techniques
Scientific paper
Shear Alfvén waves are encountered in naturally occurring plasmas with multiple ion species (charge-to-mass ratios) such as the earth's ionosphere and the solar corona. In these plasmas, the electromagnetic shear wave plays an important role in energy propagation and eventual ion and electron acceleration. An experimental and theoretical modeling study of the propagation properties of shear Alfvén waves of small transverse scale in the presence of two ion-species is presented. In a two-ion plasma, depending on the mass of the heavier species, ion kinetic effects can become prominent, and significant parallel electric fields result in electron acceleration. Theory predicts the appearance of frequency propagation gaps at the ion-ion hybrid frequency, and spatial structures that mix the cone-propagation characteristics of Alfvén waves with radially expanding ion Bernstein modes. The experiments are performed at the Basic Plasma Science Facility (BaPSF) at UCLA and consist of the spatial mapping of shear waves launched by a loop antenna. A variety of two ion-species combinations are explored by mixing the basic gases Helium, Neon, Argon and Hydrogen to generate highly reproducible plasmas. It is found that propagation bands below the ion cyclotron frequency of each of the two species can be identified, but there appears to be a damping mechanism whose strength increases with the mass of the heavier species. The reflection produced by an axial magnetic field-gradient at the ion-ion hybrid frequency is investigated.
Maggs James E.
Morales G. J.
Vincena S. T.
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