Design and Use of an Els\"{a}sser Probe for Projection of Alfv\'{e}n Wave Fields According to Wave Direction
POSTER
Abstract
Measurement of plasma transport using probes usually requires simultaneous measurement of multiple quantities from which transport can be inferred. Particle and energy transport have received the most attention. We have designed a simultaneous fluctuating $E$ and $B$ field probe to evaluate wave Poynting flux for application to Alfv\'{e}n wave experiments in the LAPD. This new probe allows projection of measured wave fields onto Els\"{a}sser variables ($Z^{\pm} \equiv$ (\textit{E $\times $ B}$_{0})$/$\vert B_{0}\vert ^{2}\pm $ $B/$(4\textit{$\rho $}$_{0}$\textit{$\pi $})$^{0.5})$ where the time averaged background field $B_{0}$ and plasma mass density \textit{$\rho $}$_{0}$ are measured by other probes. Experiments were conducted in a singly ionized He-H plasma in the Large Area Plasma Device (LAPD) at UCLA. The results were compared with existing measurement techniques for this type of plasma in the LAPD [1]. Findings will be discussed at the conference. \\[4pt] [1] C. A. Kletzing, D. J. Thuecks, F. Skiff, S. R. Bounds, and S. Vincena, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{104}, 095001 (2010).