Laboratory observation of a nonlinear interaction between shear Alfvén waves.
An experimental investigation of nonlinear interactions between shear Alfvén waves in a laboratory plasma is presented. Two Alfvén waves, generated by a resonant cavity, are observed to beat together, driving a pseudomode at the beat frequency. The pseudomode then scatters the Alfvén waves, generating a series of sidebands. The observed interaction is very strong, with the normalized amplitude of the driven pseudomode comparable to the normalized magnetic field amplitude (deltaB/B) of the interacting Alfvén waves.
Carter
T A
TA
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA. tcarter@physics.ucla.edu
Brugman
B
B
Pribyl
P
P
Lybarger
W
W