A Study of Collisionless Plasma Shocks.
Abstract
The report discusses an experiment designed to study collisionless shock waves in an inverse pinch discharge using argon. A magnetic disturbance was generated which propagated ahead of the driving field at twice the piston speed. Measurements of the magnetic and electric field structures, electron density and temperature, as well as ion velocities revealed that the disturbance was produced by a beam of plasma moving through the ionized ambient plasma rather than by a true shock wave. Calculations of ion trajectories using measured electric fields demonstrated that the beam originated at small radii and early times, and was not the result of a steady specular reflection from the piston field. It is concluded that the ions comprising this stream, which were collisionless relative to the ambient ions, did not couple to the background plasma even though a strong magnetic field was applied. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1973
- Accession Number
- AD0762426
Entities
People
- Ralph H. Lovberg
Organizations
- University of California, San Diego