Ion Heating Due to Low-Frequency Wave Propagation in Partially Ionized Plasmas With a Strong Density Gradient in the Hot Helicon Experiment (HELIX)

Ion heating is observed in the solar corona but is still poorly understood. Alfv\'{e}n wave damping is one of the most plausible mechanisms proposed to explain coronal ion heating. With time-resolved Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF), we have measured the increase in ion temperature in HELIX in the presence of low-frequency waves generated by a small antenna near the high-density core. We have taken LIF measurements across the plasma column to characterize how the local density and density gradient affect ion heating. Wavelet analysis of localized, small-scale (smaller than an ion gyroradius) magnetic probe measurements suggest that plasma turbulence also plays a role in ion heating.