Structure of Turbulence in the Zeta Plasma

The structure of turbulent electric and magnetic field fluctuations is described, and the internal dynamics of the associated velocity fluctuations are compared with those of fluid turbulence. It is suggested that the plasma turbulence is qualitatively similar to fluid turbulence but with the turbulent elements elongated along the mean magnetic field to form rolls. This suggests that an appropriate comparison might be with the hypothetical two-dimensional limit of fluid turbulence, in which energy is expected to be transferred toward long wavelengths rather than to short wavelengths as for isotropic turbulence. In the plasma case, the direction of energy flow is inferred to be toward short wavelengths but the measured form of the triple correlation is close to that expected for two-dimensional turbulence; we cannot, therefore, make a clear choice between the two alternatives. Effects arising from the particle structure of the plasma do not appear to be important, except that at low pressures an increased damping occurs which may be ion Landau damping. The source of the turbulent energy is not primarily convection due to the pressure gradient but involves some mechanism of direct coupling with the plasma current associated with the “excess resistance” of the discharge.