Abstract
An impurity-driven drift wave is observed to be destabilized by the reversed density gradient of a singly ionized heavy-impurity-ion population in a Q-machine plasma. The evolution of the instability is investigated as it progresses from the initial linear exponential growth phase, into a nonlinear saturated state, whereupon strong radially outward anomalous diffusion is observed. The relationship between the anomalous diffusion coefficient and the wave amplitude is in agreement with estimates obtained from the nonlinear drift-wave turbulence theory of Dupree.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2347-2352 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Physics of Fluids |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1982 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Computational Mechanics
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
- Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes