Plasma Flow Damping and Confinement Times on MCX

Abstract The Maryland Centrifugal eXperiment uses a sixteen-chord H$_{\alpha}$ measurement system to measure absolute intensity levels of the Hydrogen Balmer- alpha line in a rotating plasma with mirror magnetic geometry. This newly enhanced multi-chord system has allowed us to characterize neutral Hydrogen behavior at the mid-plane and determine its affect on plasma flow and confinement times. We compare these results with theoretical models in the context of fluid equilibrium, perpendicular resistivity, and critical ionization velocity.