S. M. Finnegan

The dispersive Alfven wave in the time-stationary limit with a focus on collisional and warm-plasma effects

A nonlinear, collisional, two-fluid model of uniform plasma convection across a field-aligned current (FAC) sheet, describing the stationary Alfven (StA) wave, is presented. In a previous work, Knudsen showed that, for cold, collisionless plasma [D. J. Knudsen, J. Geophys. Res. 101, 10761 (1996)], the stationary inertial Alfven (StIA) wave can accelerate electrons parallel to a background magnetic field and cause large, time-independent plasma-density variations having spatial periodicity in the direction of the convective flow over a broad range of spatial scales and energies. Knudsen suggested that these fundamental properties of the StIA wave may play a role in the formation of discrete auroral arcs. Here, Knudsens model has been generalized for warm, collisional plasma. From this generalization, it is shown that nonzero ion-neutral and electron-ion collisional resistivity significantly alters the perpendicular ac and dc structure of magnetic-field-aligned electron drift, and can either dissipate or enhance the field-aligned electron energy depending on the initial value of field-aligned electron drift velocity. It is also shown that nonzero values of plasma pressure increase the dominant Fourier component of perpendicular wavenumber.

Integrated campaign to study the stationary inertial Alfvén wave in the laboratory and space regimes

A small, off-axis mesh-anode electrode at one plasma-column end is used to create a paraxial channel of electron current and depleted density in the large plasma device upgrade at UCLA. We show that the on-axis, larger, surrounding-plasma column rotates about its cylindrical axis because a radial electric field is imposed by a multiple-segmented-disc termination electrode on the same end as the mesh-anode electrode. The radial profile of azimuthal velocity is shown to be consistent with predictions of rigid-body rotation. Launched inertial Alfven waves are shown to concentrate in the off-axis channel of electron current and depleted plasma density. In the absence of launched waves, time varying boundary conditions, or spatially structured boundary conditions, a non-fluctuating, non-traveling pattern in the plasma density is shown to arise spontaneously in the channel, but only in the combined presence of electron current, density depletion, and spontaneously in the channel, cross-field convection (i.e. rotation). These results may be relevant to the stationary Alfven wave in the inertial regime in space and laboratory plasmas.