Laboratory observations of electron energization and associated lower-hybrid and Trivelpiece–Gould wave turbulence during magnetic reconnection

This work presents an experimental study of current-driven turbulence in a plasma undergoing magnetic reconnection in a low-β, strong-guide-field regime. Electrostatic fluctuations are observed by small, high-bandwidth, and impedance-matched Langmuir probes. The observed modes, identified by their c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fox, William R., Porkolab, Miklos, Egedal-Pedersen, Jan, Katz, Noam Karasov, Le, A.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Institute of Physics 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66906
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9518-4097
Description
Summary:This work presents an experimental study of current-driven turbulence in a plasma undergoing magnetic reconnection in a low-β, strong-guide-field regime. Electrostatic fluctuations are observed by small, high-bandwidth, and impedance-matched Langmuir probes. The observed modes, identified by their characteristic frequency and wavelength, include lower-hybrid fluctuations and high-frequency Trivelpiece–Gould modes. The observed waves are believed to arise from electrons energized by the reconnection process via direct bump-on-tail instability (Trivelpiece–Gould) or gradients in the fast electron population (lower-hybrid).