PLASMA HOLE — A SINGULAR VORTEX IN A MAGNETIZED PLASMA

A vortex with a density cavity in its core has been observed in a magnetized cylindrical plasma. It is called "plasma hole" from the visual impression when viewed along the axis of the vortex. The flow velocity measurements revealed that the plasma hole accompanies with supersonic azimuthal flow and radial flow toward the center, on a plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. The vorticity distribution evaluated from the flow velocity field is localized near the vortex center axis. This vorticity localization is identified as a Burgers vortex, which is the first observation of Burgers vortex in a plasma. The plasma hole is divided into two regions; in the peripheral regions the Lorentz force is balanced with the electric force (ExB drift), and in the core regions the Lorentz force is balanced with the centrifugal force. Rotation driven by centrifugal force is called fast rotation, and is realized only in non-neutral plasmas so far. It is found that charge neutrality condition in the core region breaks down by three order of magnitude compared with the case without plasma hole (10^-6). The effective viscosity in the core region exhibits an anomaly as well. The detailed experimental results on the plasma hole and the implication from the viewpoint of basic plasma physics will be presented.

Note from Publisher: This article contains the abstract only.