Laboratory Investigation of Stationary Inertial Alfven Waves on the Large Plasma Device-Upgrade at UCLA

West Virginia University Research Corporation, Morgantown WV

Investigators

Abstract

A stationary inertial Alfvén wave (StAIW) is a nonfluctuating, nontravelling, spatially periodic pattern in the electromagnetic field and fluid quantities, predicted analytically and now being documented in the lab, that explains with a model certain observed morphology and dynamics of long-lived auroral arcs, the source mechanism causing these features, and the evolution from the background state of the magnetosphere for cases of arc duration longer than 10 seconds. A lab experiment will be performed to validate the space-relevant predictions of the StIAW model. The StIA-wave parallel dc electric field accelerates electrons along magnetic field (z direction) to speeds in excess of the Alfvén speed and the ultimate electron velocity gain parallel to the magnetic field will be measured in the lab at various z positions, with a double-sided Mach probe, and compared to a model. Lab documentation of the existence of the StIAW dc parallel electric field in spite of the rapid charge-imbalance compensation ability of electrons along magnetic field lines would be a significant milestone in the space physics field because source, dynamics, and morphology, all three, of stable, long-lived auroral arcs would be explained in a single model. The planned research will support student mentoring having an international perspective at WVU and UCLA. The planned research strengthens the interrelationship between plasma experiments in the lab and in space that is aimed at targeted validation of geoscience phenomena. Space plasma dynamics, instability, and particle energization represent the broader application of the proposed basic plasma research. The planned research contributes to international cooperation through scientific collaboration within the realm of university research.