Double Vortex Flows in Plasmas Axially Traversing Multipole Magnetic Fields

Detailed observations of 100-eV hydrogen plasmas moving in a linear quadrupole and a toroidal octupole magnetic field show that the plasmas polarize and that the field lines quickly become equipotentials. The plasmas E × B drift with negligible diamagnetism in double vortex flow patterns similar to the self-consistent solutions of Poukey. The agreement is not perfect presumably because the uniform field and steady state assumed in the theory are lacking in the experiments.