The propagation of non-axisymmetric Alfven waves in an argon plasma

Abstract

The propagation of non-axisymmetric waves in a uniform, cylindrical argon plasma was investigated; the frequency range and the plasma conditions were chosen so that both the slow and the fast waves were observed. Measurements dealt mainly with the dispersion relations and the radial variation of the wave fields which were compared with predictions from magnetohydrodynamic theory assuming that the boundary condition to be applied was that for an infinitely conducting boundary, viz., that the radial magnetic field becomes zero at the plasma boundary. The propagation of the m=-1 slow wave and the m=+1 fast wave was consistent with theory but there was a discrepancy for the m=+1 slow wave. The m=-1 fast wave was not observed to propagate.