Stirring Unmagnetized Plasma

Abstract

A new concept for spinning unmagnetized plasma is demonstrated experimentally. Plasma is confined by an axisymmetric multi-cusp magnetic field and biased cathodes are used to drive currents and impart a torque in the magnetized edge. Measurements show that flow viscously couples momentum from the magnetized edge (where the plasma viscosity is small) into the unmagnetized core (where the viscosity is large) and that the core rotates as a solid body. To be effective, collisional viscosity must overcome the ion-neutral drag due to charge exchange collisions.

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Taylor-Couette Flow of Unmagnetized Plasma
• Optimized boundary driven flows for dynamos in a sphere
• Linear Vlasov Theory in the Shearing Sheet Approximation with Application to the Magneto-Rotational Instability
• Resistive and ferritic-wall plasma dynamos in a sphere
• Prospects for observing the magnetorotational instability in the Plasma Couette Experiment