The Basic Plasma Science Facility: a platform for studying plasma processes relevant to space and astrophysical settings

The Basic Plasma Science Facility at UCLA is a national user facility for studies of fundamental processes in magnetized plasmas. The centerpiece is the Large Plasma Device, a 20 m, magnetized linear plasma device. Two hot cathode plasma sources are available. A Barium Oxide coated cathode produces plasmas with $n\sim 10^{12}$cm$^{-3}$, $T_e \sim 5$ eV, $T_i \lesssim 1$eV with magnetic field from 400G-2kG. This low-$\beta$ plasma has been used to study fundamental processes, including: dispersion and damping of kinetic and inertial Alfv\'{e}n waves, flux ropes and magnetic reconnection, three-wave interactions and parametric instabilities of Alfv\'{e}n waves, turbulence and transport, and interactions of energetic ions and electrons with plasma waves. A new Lanthanum Hexaboride (LaB$_6$) cathode is now available which produces significantly higher densities and temperatures: $n \lesssim 5\times 10^{13}$cm$^{-3}$, $T_e \sim 12$eV, $T_i \sim 6$eV. This higher pressure plasma source enabled the observation of laser-driven collisionless magnetized shocks and, with lowered magnetic field, provides magnetized plasmas with $\beta$ approaching or possibly exceeding unity. This opens up opportunities for investigating processes relevant to the solar wind and astrophysical plasmas.