Confinement of Plasma along Shaped Open Magnetic Fields from the Centrifugal Force of Supersonic Plasma Rotation

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https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.085003

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https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.085003
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/31459

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UMBC Mechanical Engineering Department

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6830-3126

Date

2010-08-17

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journal articles
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Citation of Original Publication

Teodorescu, C., W. C. Young, G. W. S. Swan, R. F. Ellis, A. B. Hassam, and C. A. Romero-Talamas. “Confinement of Plasma along Shaped Open Magnetic Fields from the Centrifugal Force of Supersonic Plasma Rotation.” Physical Review Letters 105, no. 8 (August 17, 2010): 085003. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.085003.

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© 2010 The American Physical Society

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Abstract

Interferometric density measurements in plasmas rotating in shaped, open magnetic fields demonstrate strong confinement of plasma parallel to the magnetic field, with density drops of more than a factor of 10. Taken together with spectroscopic measurements of supersonic E × B rotation of sonic Mach 2, these measurements are in agreement with ideal MHD theory which predicts large parallel pressure drops balanced by centrifugal forces in supersonically rotating plasmas.