Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
06:42

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability

Published on: March 3, 2017

Observation of centrifugally driven interchange instabilities in a plasma confined by a magnetic dipole

B Levitt1, D Maslovsky, M E Mauel

  • 1Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA. b1187@columbia.edu

Physical Review Letters
|May 21, 2005
PubMed

More Related Videos

A 100 KW Class Applied-field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster11:47

A 100 KW Class Applied-field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster

Published on: December 22, 2018

Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact06:53

Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact

Published on: February 1, 2017

Related Concept Videos

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes01:23

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

In the absence of an external magnetic field, nuclear spin states are degenerate and randomly oriented. When a magnetic field is applied, the spins begin to precess and orient themselves along (lower energy) or against (higher energy) the direction of the field. At equilibrium, a slight excess population of spins exists in the lower energy state. Because the direction of the magnetic field is fixed as the z-axis,  the precessing magnetic moments are randomly oriented around the z-axis. This...
Magnetic Damping01:17

Magnetic Damping

Eddy currents can produce significant drag on motion, called magnetic damping. For instance, when a metallic pendulum bob swings between the poles of a strong magnet, significant drag acts on the bob as it enters and leaves the field, quickly damping the motion.
If, however, the bob is a slotted metal plate, the magnet produces a much smaller effect. When a slotted metal plate enters the field, an emf is induced by the change in flux; however, it is less effective because the slots limit the...
Electric Dipoles and Dipole Moment01:30

Electric Dipoles and Dipole Moment

Consider two charges of equal magnitude but opposite signs. If they cannot be separated by an external electric field, the system is called a permanent dipole. For example, the water molecule is a dipole, making it a good solvent.
Theoretically, studying electric dipoles leads to understanding why the resultant electric forces around us are weak. Since electric forces are strong, remnant net charges are rare. Hence, the interaction between dipoles helps us understand electrical interactions in...
Induced Electric Dipoles01:29

Induced Electric Dipoles

A permanent electric dipole orients itself along an external electric field. This rotation can be quantified by defining the potential energy because the external torque does work in rotating it. Then, the potential energy is minimum at the parallel configuration and maximum at the antiparallel configuration. While the former is a stable equilibrium, the latter is an unstable equilibrium.
Since the absolute value of potential energy holds no physical meaning, its zero value can be chosen as per...
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions01:28

Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions

An electric field suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge. Similarly, a magnetic field is discontinuous at a surface current. The perpendicular component of a magnetic field is continuous across the interface of two magnetic mediums. In contrast, its parallel component, perpendicular to the current, is discontinuous by the amount equal to the product of the vacuum permeability and the surface current. Like the scalar potential in electrostatics, the vector potential is also continuous...
Magnetic Field due to Moving Charges01:25

Magnetic Field due to Moving Charges

A stationary charge creates and interacts with the electric field, while a moving charge creates a magnetic field.
Consider a point charge moving with a constant velocity. Like the electric field, the magnetic field at any point is directly proportional to the magnitude of the charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the source point and the field point. However, unlike the electric field, the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the plane containing the line...