Experiment to Study Alfven Wave Propagation in Plasma Loops

Arched plasma-filled twisted magnetic flux tubes are generated in the laboratory using pulsed power techniques (J.F. Hansen, S.K.P. Tripathi, P.M. Bellan, 2004). Their structure and time evolution exhibit similarities with both solar coronal loops and spheromaks. We are now developing a method to excite propagating torsional Alfven wave modes in such plasma loops by superposing a $\sim $10kA, $\sim $100ns current pulse upon the $\sim $50kA, 10$\mu $s main discharge current that flows along the $\sim $20cm long, 2cm diameter arched flux tube. To achieve this high power 100ns pulse, a magnetic pulse compression technique based on saturable reactors is employed. A low power prototype has been successfully tested, and design and construction of a full-power device is nearing completion. The full-power device will compress an initial 2$\mu $s pulse by a factor of nearly 20; the final stage utilizes a water-filled transmission line with ultra-low inductance to attain the final timescale. This new pulse device will subsequently be used to investigate interactions between Alfven waves and the larger-scale loop evolution; one goal will be to directly image the wave using high-speed photography. Attention will be paid to wave propagation including dispersion and reflection, as well as dissipation mechanisms and possible energetic particle generation.