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Intermittent turbulence and turbulent structures in a linear magnetized plasma

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Abstract

Strongly intermittent turbulence is observed in the shadow of a limiter in the large plasma device at UCLA [W. Gekelman, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)]. The amplitude probability distribution function of the turbulence is strongly skewed, with density depletion events (or "holes") dominant in the high-density region and density-enhancement events (or "blobs") dominant in the low-density region. Two-dimensional cross-conditional averaging shows that the blobs are detached, outward-propagating filamentary structures with a clear dipolar potential, while the holes appear to be part of a more extended turbulent structure. A statistical study of the blobs reveals a typical size of ten times the ion sound gyroradius and a typical velocity of one-tenth the sound speed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number010701
Pages (from-to)1-4
Number of pages4
JournalPhysics of Plasmas
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2006
Externally publishedYes

Funding

The experiments reported in the paper were performed using the UCLA Basic Plasma Science Facility, which is funded by NSF and DOE. This work was supported by a DOE Fusion Energy Sciences postdoctoral fellowship and by DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-02ER54688.

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