Rotating Plasma Experiments. I. Hydromagnetic Properties

Experiments on Ixion III, the Los Alamos rotating plasma device, using electrostatic and magnetic probe techniques are discussed. Analysis of the data indicates the presence of a two-liter annular volume of rotating plasma whose mean mass density is ∼ 1 × 10−8 g/cm3 and whose rotation decays with the supply voltage in ∼ 300 μsec. The plasma energy content of ∼ 130 joules appears to be nearly equipartitioned between ordered rotational drift motion and random thermal motion. Under typical operating conditions the data show the existence of drift velocities of ∼ 8 × 106 cm/sec (∼ 65 ev for deuterium) and temperatures of the order of 30 ev. The operation of Ixion as a hydromagnetic capacitor in an oscillatory circuit is described.