A kinetic model for resonant heating of ions by Alfvén waves in laboratory plasmas

A kinetic model for the resonant heating of ions by Alfvén waves that propagate along the magnetic field lines and wave frequencies in the ion-cyclotron frequency range is developed. In terms of the quasi-linear approach, particle–Alfvén wave interactions are examined from the Vlasov equation in a hot, magnetized, and multi-ion plasma. Consequently, a new heating-rate expression for any species of ions that are heated by the Alfvén waves is derived. Based on the heating model and the dispersion relation of the magnetic field-aligned left-hand polarized EM ion-cyclotron-Alfvén (EMICA) waves, the resonant heating of H, H2, H3, H3, and He4 by the EMICA waves in a typical preheated laboratory plasma is numerically studied. The results indicate that the EMICA waves can efficiently heat ions through the cyclotron resonances. The temperatures of H, H2, H3, He2, and He4 can be increased by a factor of tens within hundreds of μ-seconds. The parameters that affect the EMICA-wave heating include the plasma density, the plasma temperature, the background magnetic field, and the wave-energy density. It is also dependent on the ion species. Each species of ions resonates with the EMICA waves in a narrow frequency range that is close to its ion-cyclotron frequency.