Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Observation of turbulent intermittency scaling with magnetic helicity in an MHD plasma wind tunnel
D A Schaffner1, A Wan1, M R Brown1
1Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081, USA.
Abstract:
The intermittency in turbulent magnetic field fluctuations has been observed to scale with the amount of magnetic helicity injected into a laboratory plasma. An unstable spheromak injected into the MHD wind tunnel of the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment displays turbulent magnetic and plasma fluctuations as it relaxes into a Taylor state. The level of intermittency of this turbulence is determined by finding the flatness of the probability distribution function of increments for magnetic pickup coil fluctuations B˙(t). The intermittency increases with the injected helicity, but spectral indices are unaffected by this variation. While evidence is provided which supports the hypothesis that current sheets and reconnection sites are related to the generation of this intermittent signal, the true nature of the observed intermittency remains unknown.
More Related Videos
11:51Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
13:02Three-dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry for Turbulence Applications: Case of a Jet Flow
Published on: February 27, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
Turbulent Flow
Motion Of A Charged Particle In A Magnetic Field
Wind Turbine Machine Models
Induction machines interact through the rotating magnetic field generated by the stator and the rotor. The key parameter is slip, which is the difference between synchronous speed and rotor speed relative to synchronous speed. Slip is...
Divergence and Curl of Magnetic Field
Plane Electromagnetic Waves II