Contributions of Q-machine experiments to understanding auroral particle acceleration processes

Abstract

Experiments performed over the past 40 years on Q-machine plasma devices [N. Rynn and N. D’Angelo, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 31, 1326 (1960)] have contributed significantly to the basic understanding of plasma behavior. Many of these laboratory results are relevant to plasma processes in the Earth’s ionosphere and magnetosphere. Here are reviewed examples in which Q-machine experiments contributed to understanding particle acceleration in the Earth’s auroral energization region by discovering unexpected behavior, developing physical insight, benchmarking theoretical models, and establishing observational signatures relevant to space plasmas. Magnetic-field-aligned (parallel) electric fields, solitary structures, ion–cyclotron waves, ion–acoustic waves, Kelvin–Helmholtz waves, and lower-hybrid waves are discussed. The legacy of these contributions is a tribute to the Q-machine design.