• Low-frequency fluctuations in a pure toroidal magnetized plasma

    • Fulltext

       

        Click here to view fulltext PDF


      Permanent link:
      https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/pram/073/06/1073-1086

    • Keywords

       

      Pure toroidal plasma; low-frequency fluctuations; Rayleigh–Taylor instability; drift waves.

    • Abstract

       

      A magnetized, low-𝛽 plasma in pure toroidal configuration is formed and extensively studied with ion mass as control parameter. Xenon, krypton and argon plasmas are formed at a fixed toroidal magnetic field of 0.024 T, with a peak density of $\sim 10^{11}$ cm-3, $\sim 4 \times 10^{10}$ cm-3 and $\sim 2 \times 10^{10}$ cm−3 respectively. The experimental investigation of time-averaged plasma parameter reveals that their profiles remain insensitive to ion mass and suggests that saturated slab equilibrium is obtained. Low-frequency (LF) coherent fluctuations ($\omega$ < $\omega_{\text{ci}}$) are observed and identified as flute modes. Here $\omega_{\text{ci}}$ represents ion cyclotron frequency. Our results indicate that these modes get reduced with ion mass. The frequency of the fluctuating mode decreases with increase in the ion mass. Further, an attempt has been made to discuss the theory of flute modes to understand the relevance of some of our experimental observations.

    • Author Affiliations

       

      P K Sharma1 R Singh1 D Bora1

      1. Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar 382 428, India
    • Dates

       
  • Pramana – Journal of Physics | News

    • Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

      Posted on July 25, 2019

      Click here for Editorial Note on CAP Mode

© 2022-2023 Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru.