Laboratory observation of a nonlinear interaction between shear Alfvén waves

Abstract

An experimental investigation of nonlinear interactions between shear Alfvén waves in a laboratory plasma is presented. Two Alfvén waves, generated by a resonant cavity, are observed to beat together, driving a low frequency nonlinear psuedo-mode at the beat frequency. The psuedo-mode then scatters the Alfvén waves, generating a series of sidebands. The observed interaction is very strong, with the normalized amplitude of the driven psuedo-mode comparable to the normalized magnetic field amplitude ($\delta B/B$) of the interacting Alfvén waves.

10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett