Coherent structures in two-dimensional plasma turbulence

Abstract

Low-frequency, flute-type electrostatic fluctuations propagating across a strong, homogeneous magnetic field are studied experimentally. The fluctuations are generated by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. The presence of relatively long-lived vortexlike structures in a background of wide-band turbulent fluctuations is demonstrated by a conditional sampling technique. Depending on plasma parameters, the dominant structures can appear as monopole or multipole vortices, dipole vortices in particular. The importance of large structures for the turbulent plasma diffusion is discussed. A statistical analysis of the randomly varying plasma flux is presented.