Alfvén wave collisions, the fundamental building block of plasma turbulence. III. Theory for experimental design

Abstract

Turbulence in space and astrophysical plasmas is governed by the nonlinear interactions between counterpropagating Alfvén waves. Here, we present the theoretical considerations behind the design of the first laboratory measurement of an Alfvén wave collision, the fundamental interaction underlying Alfvénic turbulence. By interacting a relatively large-amplitude, low-frequency Alfvén wave with a counterpropagating, smaller-amplitude, higher-frequency Alfvén wave, the experiment accomplishes the secular nonlinear transfer of energy to a propagating daughter Alfvén wave. The predicted properties of the nonlinearly generated daughter Alfvén wave are outlined, providing a suite of tests that can be used to confirm the successful measurement of the nonlinear interaction between counterpropagating Alfvén waves in the laboratory.