Measurements of electromagnetic waves in Phaedrus-B: Bench-mark test of ANTENA wave field calculations

Abstract

It is shown that the predictions of a numerical code (ANTENA) and the data of wave field measurements in the Phaedrus-B tandem mirror are consistent (±25%) for right-handed (−) wave fields and less so (±40%) for left-handed (+) wave fields in the plasma core, and that they disagree for + fields near the column edge. Shorting out or reduction of the wave azimuthal electric fields by limiters is the probable cause of this discrepancy. The ICRF fluctuating wave fields are shown as || contour maps in the r-z plane, where the + data peak at a smaller radius than predicted. The waves are characterized by different dominant axial wave numbers for the left- and right-handed circularly polarized fields.