Active Learning Tutorial: Nonlinear Alfvénic Physics

Low frequency Alfvénic waves and fluctuations are ubiquitous in laboratory and space plasmas, and these fundamental modes of a magnetized plasma often serve as building blocks for more complicated structures and dynamics. The nonlinear properties of these modes may play key roles in the turbulent solar wind, heating of the solar corona, and the loss of energetic particles in tokamaks. But the relationship between the observed properties of these systems and the underlying Alfvénic modes remains an active area of research. In this context, the present tutorial aims to introduce participants to key physics describing how nonlinear interactions between Alfvénic fluctuations take place. The tutorial will be presented in an active learning format with discussion questions interspersed. Conference participants will then be given some time to confer with their neighbors and record their answers electronically. Initial questions will focus on the nonlinear interactions present in commonly used models, such as incompressible MHD and two-fluid. This physics will then be related to real world examples including the behavior of the turbulent solar wind and laboratory experiments in which Alfvén waves interact in the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) at UCLA. The very end of the presentation will be devoted to explaining the active learning pedagogy demonstrated during the talk.