Alfvén Waves Generated by Expanding Plasmas in the Laboratory and in Space

Details Alfvén Waves Generated by Expanding Plasmas in the Laboratory and in Space Alfvén Waves Generated by Expanding Plasmas in the Laboratory and in Space

Dec 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufmsm21b0549g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #SM21B-0549

Physics

0654 Plasmas, 7513 Coronal Mass Ejections, 7531 Prominence Eruptions, 7831 Laboratory Studies, 7871 Waves And Instabilities

Scientific paper

There are many situations, which occur in space (coronal mass ejections, supernovas), or are man-made (upper atmospheric detonations) in which a dense plasma expands into a background magnetized plasma, that can support Alfvén waves. The LArge Plasma Device (LAPD) is a machine, at UCLA, in which Alfvén waves propagation in homogeneous and inhomogeneous plasmas has been studied. These will be briefly reviewed. Then a new class of experiments which involve the expansion of a dense (initially, n/no>>1) laser-produced plasma into an ambient highly magnetized background plasma capable of supporting Alfvén waves will be presented. The 150 MW laser is pulsed at the same 1 Hz repetition rate as the plasma in a highly reproducible experiment. The laser beam impacts a solid target such that the initial plasma burst is directed either along or across the magnetic field. The interaction results in the production of intense shear and compressional Alfvén waves, as well as large density perturbations. The waves propagate away from the target and are observed to become plasma column resonances. The magnetic fields of the waves are obtained with a 3-axis inductive probe. Spatial patterns of the magnetic fields associated with the waves and density perturbations are measured at over {10}4 locations and will be shown in dramatic movies. These are used to estimate the coupling efficiency of the laser energy and kinetic energy of the dense plasma into wave energy. The wave generation mechanism is due to field aligned return currents, which replace fast electrons escaping the initial blast. Work supported by ONR, DOE, and NSF

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Alfvén Waves Generated by Expanding Plasmas in the Laboratory and in Space does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Alfvén Waves Generated by Expanding Plasmas in the Laboratory and in Space, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Alfvén Waves Generated by Expanding Plasmas in the Laboratory and in Space will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1438369