Rotating Plasma Experiments. II. Energy Measurements and the Velocity Limiting Effect

Abstract

The total rotational energy and energy loss rate in Ixion III, the Los Alamos rotating plasma experiment, have been measured as functions of time. As the radial electric field is increased, a limiting velocity of rotation of approximately 1.3 × 10⁷ cm/sec is observed. Measurements indicate the presence of a region of fully ionized plasma whose contaminants radiate large amounts of energy in the form of line radiation in the vacuum ultraviolet. Mechanisms that have been proposed to explain the velocity limit are discussed in relation to the experimental results.